Little Whale
by Shatterr
Summary: de-aged!Makoto gets lifeguard!Haruka to be his new babysitter, and touching ensues: but is Haruka just taking out his loneliness on Makoto, or is he truly in love again after a major heartbreak? In addition, will lifeguard!Nagisa ever win the heart of de-aged!Rei, who is seemingly only interested in Haruka? Underage, consensual, WIP
1. Whale

Makoto was eleven years old.

_Eleven. Years. Old._

That was _definitely_ old enough to stay home by himself. His parents disagreed.

He was to either stay at his grandma's house with his two little siblings, go to daycare, or have a babysitter. Even if the babysitter could only take care of him a few days of the week, it was worth it to Makoto. And to be honest, he wasn't very thrilled about it until one day, when his mother had came to pick him up from the local swimming club, and stopped to talk to the lifeguard, Haruka. Makoto swam over, clutching on to a lime green noodle, pushing his goggles down to his neck, watching from the edge.

He didn't know much about Haruka, but he did watch him very much. In fact, he had what one might call a "crush" on this teenager. He was the sole reason he came to that swim club, in hopes of showing off enough to catch his attention. Yet, Haruka always sat upon his high seat, legs crossed, watching the "Family pool" with half-lidded eyes. Though he looked bored, he never once would let his attention escape from the pool. He was a good lifeguard.

Makoto had never spoken to him, but he has always wanted to. There were times where he'd stay real late, and just when the pool was about to close, and most of the kids had left, the dark-haired teen would slip into the water. He would play with the younger ones if there were some left, but if it was just the two of them, he would start swimming laps, impressively. Makoto would swim laps, too, and though they both swam in that pool, they swam on opposite ends, and never talked. Then the clock would strike six o'clock and Haruka would get out of the pool, and Makoto's mother would come into the room and call him out.

Haruka gave a nod, face as neutral as it always was. Makoto's mother smiled, and then sought him out in the pool, beckoning him to come out. He begrudgingly thew the noodle aside, pulling himself up out of the pool and giving his hair a nice shake (honestly, he had learned it from watching Haruka), and padding over, dripping wet. "Yes, he _really_ looks up to you," he heard his mother say.

"Really?" Haruka said, eyes twinkling a bit in a way Makoto hadn't really ever seen them do before. It was pretty.

"Makoto, this is_ Nanase-san_," his mother smiled at him, pulling him closer so he could be invited into the conversation, "since you two are a little familiar with each other, I asked him if he would like to be your babysitter."

The brunette's cheeks went red and he looked away, at the rippling pool, and the children playing in it.

"He can on his off-days. Isn't that great? Hmmm, Makoto, show some respect?"

"T-_Thank you_!" Makoto bowed, face still blushing.

Haruka grabbed a towel off the nearby rack and wrapped it around his shoulders, giving him a small smile that Makoto had never seen before. "You're welcome, _Mako-chan_."

* * *

"Be home by four and don't cause Nanase-san any trouble!" Makoto's mother smiled, gently coaxing him towards the stairway that lead to Haruka's home.

The boy tried to protest, but to no avail, as his mother got in her car and drove away before he could say anything else. _'Really_,' he thought.

He jogged up the steps and went up to the door, blushing hard before pressing the doorbell in for an unnecessarily long time. He frowned, waiting, but then saw that there was a stray cat nearby. He smiled, waving to it, but before he could give it a pet, the door slid open, and she got spooked, meowing and dashing down the steps.

"There are always cats around here."

Makoto turned, looking up at the teen, who was now leaning on the door frame. He was wearing a dark blue v-neck and jeans. Makoto had come accustomed to seeing him shirtless and in a swimsuit, and was sort of disappointed, but he supposed that had to do for today.

"Well, come in."

Makoto followed him in, cheeks burning red. He was aware of it, but had absolutely no power in stopping it from happening. He just hoped Haru wouldn't notice...(how could he _not, _though?).

"Do you live here all on your own?"

"Yes."

"Doesn't it get lonely?"

"That's why you're here, isn't it?"

Makoto blushed hard, scratching his cheek. "I...I guess, but I sorta thought it was, y'know...the other way around..._Haru-chan_?"

Avoiding the question, he lead him into the small kitchen, "I thought you might be hungry, since it's already the afternoon, so I got you some takoyaki." He handed him a plate, the balls rolling to the edge.

"Wow!" Makoto smiled, grabbing the plate. "Thank you, Haru-chan! It must have taken a lot of work to make these! Thank you!"

The truth was that he had just bought them from a street corner, but he wasn't going to let the opportunity to have cute Mako-chan praise him pass him by.

"You can eat them by the T.V."

Makoto ran to the room he had passed earlier, with the T.V. in it. He sat on the floor in front of it, happily munching on the takoyaki.

Haruka found it adorable, and silently followed him into the room, kneeling next to the T.V. "I don't have many channels, but I do have a DVD player."

"Wow! You're rich for a high school student!"

"Surprisingly, a life guard's pay isn't so bad." He looked at his DVDs. He never really imagined he'd ever have a cute eleven-year-old in his house, so he didn't have any kids movies. He mostly had water documentaries, and horror movies. Well, it was worth a shot, though he was already almost sure of his answer. "Want to watch this, Mako-chan?" He held up a DVD entitled 'Seas of Life'.

Makoto made a face. "Is that all Haru-chan has?"

"Well, there's this, too," Haruka frowned, showing him, 'Revenge of the Hell Zombies', "but don't tell your parents I let you watch it."

"I won't, I won't!" The eleven-year-old smiled, stuffing his mouth with another squid ball.

"It might be a bit scary," he said, putting the disc into the player and pressing play. To add effect, he turned off the light in the room, and then sat down next to Makoto, finding himself blushing a little when he saw how eager the boy looked. It must have been his first R-rated movie.

"Haru-chan is the best!"

Haruka looked at the screen, smiling.

* * *

It wasn't long before Makoto's age was showing. Not only that, he seemed to be a huge scaredy-cat on top of it: he was jumping at the most unexciting parts! In fact, Haruka found himself watching Makoto more than the actual movie, just to see his amusing reactions.

When the zombies started crawling up from the hospital floors, however, is when Makoto grabbed on to Haruka's arm, digging his fingernails into the skin. He looked up at him with wide, frightened green eyes, quivering with upcoming tears. "I-I'm _scared_, Haru-chan."

"Don't be scared, I'm here," he said quietly, his voice very calming to the boy, and somehow, he pulled him into his lap.

Makoto whimpered, pushing his face into his chest. The teenager then realized with utter panic that something in his pants was starting to grow.

_He felt like such a pervert_.

"Ah, uh, Mako-chan, er..."

"Hnnn!" He squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his cheek into the soft fabric of his v-neck.

"M-Mako-chan...maybe we should do arts and crafts instead."

"Just turn it _off_..."

Arm shaking a bit, still in disbelief about what he was going to do, he wrapped it around the small of Makoto's back, pulling him closer. It was as if all reason had floated away absently from his mind. It was _gone_, and all that mattered was his adorable Mako-chan.

His swimsuit was black and white, so he had nicknamed him "the whale". What's more, he was almost always the oldest child in the family pool, so he was significantly bigger than the rest. Haruka watched his little whale swim the entire time. He knew it was wrong, he knew he should be paying attention to all the children, and of course he would be there in a second if anything happened, it's just...

It's just, his little whale was so beautiful in the water. When watching him, he could almost feel himself in the pool. It was a connection he didn't have with anyone else he had ever come across. Not even his ex.

But no thinking about him right now. There were much more important things that he should be thinking about, like the growing boner in his jeans.

After using his free hand to grab the remote and stop the movie, he wrapped both arms around Makoto, hands lingering on his bum as he lifted him up. On instinct, the boy wrapped his arms around his neck, and Haruka smiled a little more. "Hm, you're heavy...well, no arts and crafts?"

"No! That's the kinda thing my Grandma does."

"Haru-chan's cooler than Grandma, though, right?" He carried him upstairs, to the bath.

"Hmm..." Makoto blushed, not answering.

"We're going to take a bath. That will take your mind off things."

"A bath? Together?"

"Why not? They're very relaxing. It's my favorite thing to do," he set him down, closing the sliding door and starting to fill the tub with hot water.

"Your_ favorite _thing to do is take baths," he snickered.

"Well, when I'm at home," Haruka muttered, pulling his v-neck up and over his head. He still couldn't believe he was doing this.

"Aren't we going to shower first?"

"We can skip that step today."

"But what am I going to change into afterwards," he whined, still finding the whole idea sort of odd. That, and the thought of getting into the bath with Haru-chan made him feel very...weird, and his cheeks burned.

"Don't worry, we'll throw your clothes in the wash, and you can just wear something of mine while they dry. You can open the cupboard, there's lots of toys in there."

Makoto peeked in the only nearby drawer, and gasped. There was almost any bath toy he could have ever imagined, from squirty toys, to floaties, to bath crayons, boats, animal-shaped sponges, and stacking cups. The drawer itself was so colorful and tempting, Makoto couldn't help himself. Quickly shedding his clothes, he grabbed an arm full of whatever he could, and went over to the bath, where Haruka was already soaking, blue eyes twinkling like never before. He dumped the toys into the water, and then stepped in.

"Here, sit in front of me," Haru grabbed his arm, pulling him almost forcefully to the position between his legs. Makoto wasn't really complaining, the older teen's arms around his waist felt comforting and reminded him of when he took baths with his dad when he was younger.

"I-I haven't played with these in so long!"

"You're never too old, right? I still play with them, a lot, too," he mumbled quietly into the boy's ear, feeling himself harden further, now that he was submerged in hot water with an adorable, naked little whale between his legs.

He closed his eyes. No. This was wrong. This was _so_ wrong. How had they even gotten to this point? He had to just...calm down, and enjoy the bath. 'Think of the _water_, Haruka,' he thought to himself: but that didn't help. In fact, that only made it_ worse_, his cock stiffening further yet.

Makoto then seemed to notice it, for the first time that afternoon, and turned around to look at him, hands still busy pushing a whale and dolphin squirty toy along the surface of the water. "Is there a toy back there you're hiding? I bet it's a super good one if you're hiding it!"

This time it was Haruka's cheeks that flushed red, as he furiously shook his head no. His mouth was too dry to really say anything at the moment, but he _really _hoped Makoto would get the-

The boy turned around in the bath, smiling, reaching down into the water with both hands right at Haruka's crotch. "Got i-"

The grin fell, his eyes lowering down to the semi-transparent bath water, where his hands were currently circled around the teen's hard cock.

Haruka swallowed hard, face burning with both eroticy and embarrassment.

"W-Wowww," he cried, leaning down and looking at it closer, "it's so_ big_!"

He bit his lip, worrying at it with his teeth. This wasn't really going how he had imagined it would go...

"Is mine gonna be that big too someday, Haru-chan?"

That was too much.

He turned Makoto around and then slid further down in the bath, pulling him up and resting him so he was laying on his chest, one arm wrapped around him to hold him in place, the other moving down to his small cock. "I'm going to make you feel good, Mako-chan."

The boy made a whimpering noise, and though he was a little uncomfortable with the new position, he didn't mind, either.

Haru's hand started moving up and down, the younger reacting with a quiet moan, closing his big, green eyes. He grabbed a bottle of soap that was next to the tub and poured it straight onto his cock, eliciting an excited squeak.

"Do you like that?

"Ye-yes!"

"Have you done this before?" His free hand started rubbing the small, slightly toned chest, stopping at his nipple and squeezing gently. The boy squirmed under his touch, whining some more.

"Yesss," he hissed.

"Good."

"B-but," he whispered to Haru, stretching his neck so as to get more comfortable on his muscular chest, "it feels better...like this."

Haruka let go, and the brunette groaned, splashing the water in protest. The teen just smiled and gently pushed him off his body, sitting up again in the tub, urging him to spin around so he was facing him.

Makoto splashed hard at him in anger. "What was that for!"

He chuckled quietly, sending shivers down Makoto's spine. "I just wanted to try something different." Coaxing him closer, their legs intertwining, he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and kissed him.

It wasn't long before his other hand found his jawline, gently caressing it as he worked his tongue in and out of the eleven-year-old's mouth. Under the water, Makoto started rubbing his own cock furiously, making little splashes here and there. This act only made Haru, if even possible, harder yet.

He didn't really know how to kiss, but he soon got the idea, and to reward him, Haru reached down and started rubbing his cock for him, in a much more efficient way, making use of his ultra-sensitive spot just under the head.

Makoto was a moaning puddle of pleasure, the warm water doing nothing but going straight to his head, and cock. He was starting to get dizzy, but it was a good thing.

Seeing that he wouldn't last much longer, Haru pulled his hand away, smiling when the boy once more hit him with a warm splash of water in the face.

"Why won't you let me finish?" he demanded.

"I want you to do something for me, too." He leaned back, arms resting on either side of the tub, arching his hips up so his hard dick was above the water. "Can you suck it for me?"

Makoto frowned. He had never really thought about that before, and he sort of found the idea distasteful, but considering they were in the bathtub, clean and stuff, he could make an exception this time. He leaned forward, taking it into his small mouth, whimpering when he realized that it was much bigger than he had anticipated.

Haruka closed his eyes, moaning under his breath. "Just go down on it, and don't use your teeth."

Makoto swallowed nervously, eliciting a loud groan from Haru. He sat up fast, scared. "D-Did I do something wrong?"

The teen sighed, running a hand through his wet, black bangs, smiling slightly. "No. Not at all. It felt really, really good. Do it some more, okay?"

He nodded, leaning back down and taking him into his mouth, holding on to both of his thighs for support, doing just what his babysitter had told him to do, 'going down on it'. He was making some real progress, getting almost two inches into his mouth, but then Haru started thrusting, and that startled the boy, causing him to gag and pull away. "W-why'd you do that," he coughed.

"Sorry...you were making me feel really good," he explained, sitting back up. "Don't worry. I'll make you feel good now." He grabbed a small, toy ball that went with a play fishing-net, and then instructed Makoto to turn around and get on all fours. Not really knowing what to expect, he did so, listening to Haruka open the bottle of soap once more. He looked back, unable to hold in his curiosity any longer.

Haruka looked up through his dark bangs, blue eyes looking friendly and nice. "I'm going to put this in you." He held up the ball. Makoto whimpered, looking down at the others floating around in the water. "O-okay," he agreed, nervously. He had stuck his fingers up his butt before, but never something like that.

"Have you done this?"

"S-sort of."

"Good, then your butt will eat it right up."

Makoto squeezed his eyes shut again, clenching on to the sides of the ball tub, his dick twitching at the comment. He had never really felt this way before, this _good_, and he was sort of sad he never thought to ask Haru-chan for it before.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the small, plastic ball being pushed against his anus, which to his amazement, did just as Haruka said it would. It stretched to accommodate the slippery ball, and it slid right in, his anus closing again, only this time, there was something inside of him, and it made him moan and squirm.

"W-what if it gets stuck," he asked, suddenly afraid of the thought.

"All you have to do is push it out," Haruka whispered, leaning close enough to Makoto's ear that he could smell his chlorine-y scent. He pushed, gasping when, after a little pressure, the ball popped right back out and landed in the water with a small splash.

"You're more eager than I thought you'd be," he smiled, pushing the ball back in, only to have it pushed out again almost immediately, "that's okay, enjoy the feeling. It'll all come to a peak, soon."

The cycle continued, and with each time the ball went in, and came back out, Makoto moaned, gaining volume and confidence, especially when Haruka pressed a second ball in.

He had never felt this way before, and it felt just so, _so_ good. He thought about Haruka, about how sexy Haruka was, about how hot it was that he was older than him, already a teenager, in high school, and how arousing it was that he was the one doing this to him. His Haru-chan, that he had admired for so long, pleasuring him in ways he never imagined, pleasuring him in ways he hoped he had never pleasured anyone else before.

It was like Haruka had promised, he felt himself coming to a familiar peak, but when he finally reached down to grab himself and finish the job, Haruka stopped him, throwing the balls aside and pulling him down backwards into the water with some force, making a huge splash, the water creeping over the edge and on to the floor next to the tub.

"You have to help me, too. Don't be greedy, now, Mako-chan."

"Hnnn," he droned, rolling his eyes and turning around so that he was facing the teen again. "Fine, what do I gotta do? Put something in Haru-chan, too?"

"No," he caressed his face, "when you get older, your imagination does a lot of the work. But for me, my fantasy is right in front of me. You're all I need...so just rub it, like I rubbed yours."

Makoto blushed, being called his fantasy really made him happy. Does this mean they were going to be like boyfriends? He sure hoped so, because he had been wishing for that exact thing each night before bed. "You're my fantasy, too," he said, just to make sure Haru knew it, before wrapping both of his hands around Haruka's length, moving up and down in unison, pausing each time he got to the head, just like he had done to him, and squeezing it.

It was true: Haruka didn't need much. Just being with Makoto, his little whale that he had watched for so long in silence, was enough to send him over the edge. The touching was just a great bonus.

He thought about how he got to this point: he hadn't been with anyone in two years, his boyfriend has left him to go to Australia, and after that he sort of shut everyone else off. There were no girls at school that caught his attention, nor boys. He had never been attracted to kids, either. He watched them all day, and none of them ever caught his interest. If anything, they annoyed him sometimes, but he liked being in the presence of the water, and for now, that was all he could do for some quick money.

But after Rin had left, and Makoto started coming to the swim club, a spark had lighted in Haruka that hadn't been there in a long time. It wasn't just because his little whale was adorable, and always had a smile on his face, but because of his absolute, unconditional love for the water. He noticed it event he first time he watched the boy swim: he was connected to the water in the same way he was, born to be a swimmer, born to be in the water.

Thinking of the water, of a crisp pool, of the initial splash of diving in, the crash that surrounded him, and the muffled silence when he penetrated the surface and went under, sent him completely over the edge.

"Ahhh," he moaned quietly, grabbing on to Makoto's small shoulders, releasing in long, high spurts that danced in the air before falling down to coat his little hands, and clouding the water around them. Haruka closed his eyes, leaning his head back, body, which had been so tense for the past hour, finally relaxing.

"That was a lot of cum," noted Makoto.

Haruka's cheeks went a bit red, and he sat up. "How do you know what it's called?"

"I'm not stupid! Now can I do it, too?" The eleven-year-old pouted.

"Get up on the edge of the bath."

He complied, sitting on the edge, spreading his legs wide and eagerly. Haruka floated between them, closing his eyes and taking him into his mouth to the hilt, suckling around his cock, swirling his tongue against the backside.

It went so fast, but it was all too much.

Makoto gasped for air, moaning loudly, uncontrollably, until he let himself go down the lifeguard's throat.

To his amazement, when he opened his eyes, there was no cum anywhere, except for a very small strand dribbling down from Haruka's mouth.

"Does it taste good?" He asked, genuinely curious.

Haruka nodded. Makoto slid off the edge of the tub, feet hitting the cold, linoleum floor.

"Help me up," Haru mumbled, holding out his hand.

Makoto grabbed it and pulled with all his might. "Okay, Haru-chan!"

The teen stood up, brushing some bubbles off his sexy, toned body, giving his long, black bangs a nice shake before stepping out of the bath. "Let's get you in some warm clothes."

He grabbed a towel sitting on the cupboard, wrapping it around his body. There was something about taking care of him like this that he absolutely loved.

He had a feeling he wouldn't be able to let this little whale go.

Makoto yawned, shivering a bit into the towel, wrapping it closer to him. "I'm a bit sleepy..."

"Once we get a shirt on you, we can lay down for a nap."

The eleven-year-old smiled, nodding, following him to his bedroom after he wrapped a towel around his waist. "Do you like naps, Haru-chan?"

"Yeah. They're nice." He pulled open his drawer and threw a grey tanktop at him. "That one's baggy on me, so it should be comfy for you."

Makoto laughed, shrugging off the towel and sliding into it. It looked like a dress on him, but he didn't mind. He watched as Haruka threw on some leggings and a t-shirt, going back to the bathroom to collect their clothes. Makoto stayed in the room, sitting down on his bed.

His house was a bit lonely, and he could see why Haruka was so eager for visitors. Upon further examination, he found a photograph laying on his dresser. Looking around to make sure his babysitter wasn't coming, he grabbed it. It was Haruka, though he looked closer to Makoto's age, and another guy, with longish red hair and a big grin on his face. They were close in the picture, and somehow, it made Makoto angry. He threw it back on the dresser, sitting back down on the bed, arms crossed.

Who was that boy, that Haruka seemed to treasure dear to him?

"Makoto." Haruka was standing in the doorway, a slightly confused expression on his face.

He looked up.

"Let's take a nap," he yawned, closing his eyes, walking lazily over to the bed and falling flat on it.

"O-okay..."

He cocked one eye open, looking at Makoto. He could tell something was wrong, but...

"Come closer," Haru sighed, pulling him close to his chest.

Makoto shook his head and closed his eyes. He could think about that boy later, all that mattered now was that he was with Haruka.

* * *

Makoto was in his clothes once more, and they were standing outside his home. Haru had walked him home, holding his hand the entire time. The brunette didn't want to go in, but...

"If I go in, will I ever see you again?"

"Of course," Haru smiled.

He stared down at his feet, really not sure. "Pinky promise?"

He held a pinky up. "Promise."

Makoto smiled, linking his pinky with his. Haru kissed his forehead then stood up, ringing the doorbell. His mother opened it right away.

"Oh, you're back already! Was he too much trouble?"

"Not at all, Tachibana-san." Haruka bowed, and let go of Makoto's hand, gently coaxing him inside the door. His mother handed him a couple yen notes.

"One last thing, Haru-chan," Makoto cried.

"Mm?"

"Teach me how to swim like you..._please_!"

Haruka smiled, and nodded.

* * *

_**A/N:** After rewatching episode 2, I saw that Haruka does not have a couch, and then his T.V. is in the same room as his table, so I corrected the fic accordingly. _

_If you have any requests or anything you want to see them do together, kinky or fluffy, please post a review and don't be shy (anon if you're embarrassed!). _

_Also, Rei will be making an appearance in the next chapter... (:_


	2. Butterfly

Haruka was sixteen years old.

_Sixteen. years. old. _

He should definitely_ not _be involved with an eleven-year-old. Makoto was young, and naive, and hardly knew what he was doing.

Well, not _exactly_...Makoto had seemed quite experienced, in fact, more experienced than Haruka ever thought a kid his age could be, but _still_...

What would _Rin _say?

Haruka closed his eyes. Rin would laugh at him. Call him pathetic, maybe.

Not like he really cared what Rin had to say, anyway. He was done with him. If he wanted to go off to Australia and just drop everything they had going for them, fine. _Let him_. That's what he wanted. In fact, Rin should have absolutely no influence on this decision: it was completely Haruka's.

He pushed himself out of bed, grabbing the picture. He looked at it for awhile, and then crinkled his nose, a familiar pang of sickness crawling its way up his throat. He swallowed hard, ripping the picture in half, and flopping back down on his bed, licking his dry lips. _It was over_.

Although feeling a bit silly, at least he got his anger out.

* * *

Makoto stood at the entrance of the swim club, looking at his reflection in the door and making sure his hair looked just right, swimsuit accentuating his ass just so, finger and toenails nicely trimmed and his goggles newly polished. He took a deep breath, and then smiled at his reflection. "Hi, _Haru-chan_," he practiced.

He let out the breath he had been holding, and turned to wave goodbye to his Grandma, who waved and started walking back to her home, a twin on each arm. _'Okay, Makoto, you can do this. Just smile a lot, and wiggle your butt when you walk.' _Another deep breath, and he went inside, checking in at the sign-in desk, and running to the Family pool.

His eyes immediately started scanning for Haruka, but he felt his heart stop when he saw that his usual lifeguard's seat was empty. In a panic, he looked around, feeling his stomach sink: now his whole plan was ruined!

Then, he found him in the pool, holding the hands of-

_ What?!_

Makoto ran to the edge of the pool to get a better look. He was holding both hands of a young boy, probably around Makoto's age, with bright blue hair and red glasses askew, as he frantically kicked in the water, splashing those around him in an obnoxious way.

The shock quickly changed to anger, and then jealousy, and Makoto stormed to the corner where the floaties and noodles were to collect himself.

_ 'What is he doing?! Why is he helping someone else?! He was supposed to help me! Does he have a different boyfriend? Ah, am I even considered his boyfriend yet? Do we have to kiss more? Did I kiss bad? Is he doing stuff with him? Did he have sex with him, too? Well, he didn't really have sex with me, but...'_

"Otouto?" A friendly voice came from behind him, and he turned around to see the other lifeguard, Hazuki-san, bent over and staring at him with wide pink eyes. "_Ah!_ Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Makoto was extremely confused, until he realized that there were tears rolling down his cheeks. He swallowed hard, feeling his lips swell, and he sniffed up some snot that was dripping out, but the tears just kept coming, no matter how much he tried to stop, and...

"Here, here. Don't cry!" Hazuki-san led him into the lifeguard office that was just near the box of pool toys. He closed the door and knelt down, handing him some tissues from the desk. "Onii-chan's here. What's wrong?"

The boy wiped his watery, green eyes with his wrist, looking through the plexiglass at Haruka in the pool with that new boy, then he returned his eyes to Hazuki-san. Though a little overbearing, he felt comforted by him, and liked his openness, so he pondered telling the truth or not, and figured he was best keeping their relationship a secret, for now. _Still_, he wanted advice on the situation, and he needed to know who that boy was, without seeming like a jealous boyfriend to Haruka...

He _couldn't _trouble his Haru-chan.

"I...I have a swimming...l-lesson...with...Haru-chan..." he sniffed, surprised at how hard it was to actually talk while holding back tears.

"Hey, it's alright. You're okay," he pet his head, looking very worried for him. He stood up then and went over to the desk, grabbing a binder and opening it, flipping through the pages. "Eh...hm, the only lesson Haru-chan has today is with Rei-chan."

"N-No! _I _was supposed to have a swimming lesson with him!"

Hazuki-san's lips pouted and he thought for a moment, then closed the binder and knelt back down next to him. "I'm sure Haru-chan wouldn't mind giving you a lesson, once he's finished with Rei-chan! You come here a lot, don't you? I'm not usually here during Haruka's shift, but I recognize you! You work hard," he ruffled his hair again, "it'll be fine. Don't worry. Haru-chan should be happy to take you afterwards."

"W-Who...who is that 'Rei-chan' anyway?!" Makoto scowled, crossing his arms.

"Ahh, Rei-chan is one of my usual students!"

"Why is he with _Haru-chan_, then?"

"Hmm, I'm not really sure," he sounded troubled, "he usually can't come during the afternoons like this, but I think his mother is taking a few days off work, so he wanted to come try taking a lesson with Haru-chan."

"What's wrong with _you_?"

Hazuki-san laughed nervously, scratching his cheek. "I'm not sure why, exactly," he mumbled, blushing quite a bit, "I think he just wanted to try something new."

"He can't even _swim_!" Makoto left the office and went back over to the pool, where Haru was lifting Rei out of the water by his underarms. The jealousy seared inside him fresh fish on a grill. Nagisa padded after him.

"Hey, don't be so mean, Otouto! He's just a beginner."

"Your lessons don't seem to be going well!"

"Well, to be honest, I just got him into the water last week...he was scared."

"Scared?" This wouldn't do. Haruka's new boyfriend was a _total pansy_! Surely Haru-chan wasn't impressed by him...

"Ah, they're coming over."

Makoto's thought process instantly stopped and he straightened up, focusing all his attention on Haruka, who gave his hair a nice shake before coming over and cooly saying, "Hey."

His face went red, and he looked away, only to meet eyes with Rei.

"Hi! I'm Ryugazaki-kun! How old are you?"

"Eleven," Makoto grumbled, shifting weight from foot to foot.

"I'm ten! Let's play!" Rei grabbed his hand, and yanked him back towards the pool.

"H-hey!" Makoto protested, but Rei was more muscular than he was, and stronger too (an embarrassing thought, considering he was a year younger). He looked back in dismay at Haruka, who was now chatting with Nagisa.

"I need a break. Like, ten minutes. Cover me?"

"Yeah, sure...um, Haru-chan, that boy said he had a lesson with you, but..."

Haruka's face stiffened. "Okay."

"Haru-chan, he seemed really-"

Haruka was already across the room, wrapping a towel around his shoulders and walking out into the lobby to the vending machines.

"Hnnn! Leave all the hard work to me..." Nagisa grumbled, wading into the pool.

"So, what's your name?"

"Tachibana-kun."

"What do you like to do?"

"Swim."

"Really? I just started."

"Why were you with Haru-chan?"

"_Eh_?! I..." His face went all red, and Makoto had a horrible feeling about this.

"You're not his _boyfriend_, are you?" he questioned, a completely serious look on his face. Intimidation would win this one over, he was sure of it.

"N-no!_ No_, I'm not! I just-"

"_Rei-chan_~."

"H-Hi, Nagisa-chan."

Nagisa smiled, patting Rei's head, finding it so adorable how shy he looked. "Did you learn a lot from your lesson with Haru-chan?"

"Yes!"

"Mmm! That's great, you'll have to show Nagisa-chan your progress later."

"Y-Yes!"

"Rei!" A voice called him from the edge, and he looked up to see his mother waving to him. Hastily pushing his glasses up his nose, he gave Makoto one more look, and then waved to Nagisa, wading over to the steps out of the pool.

"So, what's your name?"

"M-Makoto...but, where's Haru-chan? He was just here..."

Nagisa frowned, looking seriously puzzled himself. "He took a break. I know you wanted a lesson with him, but I could do it instead?"

"I'm sorry, excuse me...I'm going to practice!" And Makoto swam away from him towards the deeper end, backstroking laps.

Nagisa sighed, getting out of the pool and crawling up to the lifeguard's station, watching over the pool as usual. Haruka was acting pretty strange lately, then again, so was he, after meeting Rei...

The boy had just stolen his heart, though he seemed completely oblivious to his theft...on top of that, he seemed to have a crush on Haruka.

"Who _doesn't _have a crush on Haruka?" grumbled Nagisa, holding his cheek in his hand, sighing.

* * *

One lap, two laps, five laps, eight laps before Makoto pulled up to the edge, catching his breath and scanning the pool for Haruka. But he still wasn't there. How long had it been? It sure felt like forever...

Highly disappointed, he grabbed a towel and dried off, walking out to the lobby to get a snack from the vending machine. Sadly, he would be stuck here until his mother picked him up, which, according to the time, wasn't for another hour.

"Mako-chan?"

His heart leaped as he heard Haru's voice from behind. He turned around to see the teenage, plastic water bottle in hand, cheeks blushing just so slightly, blue eyes atwinkle.

"W-why?!" The tears were coming again, and Makoto had absolutely no power to stop them whatsoever. "Why were you helping him? It's not fair, you said you would help _me_!"

"Mako-chan...shhh," Haruka knelt down next to him, making sure no one was around before pulling him close in a hug. "I'm sorry."

"Why," he sobbed.

"Don't cry."

"_Tell me why_!" The preteen stomped his foot in distress.

"Don't start a scene. I thought you were more mature than this." Haruka gave him a small smile, wiping a tear from his cheek.

"I don't understand..."

"I just...I had some doubts...about what I did with you," he admitted, quietly, looking away, "but I realized, today, I can't put my feelings aside. I like you, Mako-chan. A lot."

"I like you, too..."

"But we have to keep it a secret, alright?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't think your mother would let you come here anymore if she knew what we did together. You understand that, don't you?"

Makoto understood. Haruka was an attractive, older high school student, and he was just eleven, but he felt like they had a connection, a bond, that age transcended...

"No more tears. Come on," he pulled away, grabbing his small hand and leading him back to the pool.

Makoto smiled, following him back into the pool area, feeling very excited just to be with Haru, although his entire plan for the day had been spoiled and all thoughts of wiggling his butt and swinging his hips had slipped away.

They played around in the water, splashing each other, blowing bubbles in the water through the noodles, and finding diving sticks, until Nagisa was at the edge of the pool, towel around his neck. "Haruka, I'm going. Can you clean up by yourself?"

The boy looked around, suddenly realizing the pool was completely empty, and the total silence of the usually loud, obnoxious area hit him like a cold shower. It was sort of eerie, but very exciting, to think that he and Haruka would be alone: not on opposite ends of the pool this time, but close and together.

"Yeah, sure."

He gave them a smile, but it felt forced, muttered a, "well, bye!", and jogged out, letting the door slam shut, echoing in the huge room.

Makoto looked at Haruka, whose brow was slightly furrowed in slight confusion. He was about to ask what the matter was, when the teen interrupted his thoughts.

"Let me give you your first lesson in swimming."

It happened all so suddenly: Haruka was swimming closer, and closer, and soon he backed him into a wall, pressing his hard, toned body against the slim, maturing one in front of him. His lips parted with a quiet click and he closed his eyes, leaning in to Makoto's ear. Makoto squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing hard. He could feel his cheeks heating up completely, and he swore Haru could hear his heart beating, as it was almost deafening to him. "Don't think about anything, just swim."

His heart thudded to a stop, and he pushed Haruka's chest away with both of his hands, an annoyed pout on his face. "_All that_ for-?!"

But Haruka's face was as stoic as ever. Makoto felt intimidated, and dove under one of Haruka's arms, swimming in the opposite direction. He cried out when he was grabbed by his waist, and dragged towards the other side of the pool. "What are you doing?!"

He felt horror strike as the lifeguard lifted up the "deep end" rope and ducked under it.

"H-Haru-chan!"

He placed him in front of him, on his back, in the water. Immediately, Makoto dove under the surface and underneath the rope, swimming to the four-foot mark and gained footing, wiping his stinging eyes, coughing up some water. He looked back at Haru, who was still on the other side of the rope, just staring at him.

"Why would you _d-do _that?!"

"You swam on the deep end, didn't you?"

Makoto just stood there, stricken with a mix of amazement, admiration, love, and frustration.

"Makoto!" He turned around, seeing his mother at the entrance. "Time to go!"

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he crawled out of the pool and walked over to her, wrapping a towel around himself. Haruka pulled himself out and shook his hair, striding over.

"Thank you for taking care of him, like always, Nanase-san!"

Haruka bowed. "Not a problem, Tachibana-san."

"Oh! Would it be okay if I could have your cell number, in case I ever have to get a hold of you?"

"Of course. Do you have a pen?"

She dug in her purse for a bit, and Makoto watched, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot, very eager to get that number from Haru-chan.

Taking the pen, he wrote down his cell phone number on a scrap piece of paper, handing it to her, but smiling at Makoto.

"And we're still on for tomorrow afternoon?"

Haruka nodded.

"I'll drop him off at ten!"

"See you soon, Tachibana-san...and Mako-chan."

Makoto waved, walking out with his mother, feeling more content and happy than he had in a long time, despite the start to his day.

* * *

He took a bath, but it was hard not to think of Makoto after what had happened. He idly played with his whale toy, moving it back and forth in the water as he thought.

Rei had insisted that he have a lesson with him. Haru was pretty sure it was because he had a crush on him: but for some reason, it wasn't cute like Makoto's was. Maybe that was because he knew Nagisa had feelings for Rei, and Rei was completely oblivious to them, whereas Makoto and Haruka were both very aware of their feelings for each other...still, it just didn't seem the same.

He didn't have that connection to water that his little whale had.

Haru closed his eyes, sighing and soaking deeper into the bath. Thinking of Makoto only made him want him more, want what they did to happen again, except next time, maybe..._further_.

He got out of the bath. It made him sad to be in it, without his Mako-chan. He thought back to today's events while drying off. His jealousy was pretty cute, and something Haruka almost enjoyed seeing. It was just another confirmation that he made the right choice, pursuing this relationship.

If you could even call it _that _at this point.

He heard his cell ringing from his room and raced there, dropping the towel to the floor and unplugging the phone from its charger, answering it, careful not to get it wet with his hair. "Hello?"

"H-Haru-chan?"

The teen let out a sigh of relief, falling down on to his comfy bed. "Mako-chan, what are you doing?"

"I stole the number from Mom while she was busy with the twins!"

"I'm sure she'd let you call me, if you just had asked."

"Well, I wanted to talk to you in private..."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Private?"

"Yeah, I'm in my bedroom!"

"Me too."

Makoto giggled. "That's good. I'm glad."

"Why's that?" Haruka was slightly amused.

"I maybe wanted to just...well, uh...I dunno, really...but..."

He smiled. His whale was so cute. He wanted to make sure he knew it. "You were great today, Makoto."

"N-no! I didn't even do anything! I just...I just sorta, I dunno..."

"You swam on instinct. That's what I told you to do. _A-plus_."

Makoto squeezed his eyes shut, bringing his knees to his chest, silently fanboying on the other end. It was hard keeping in his squeal of excitement at such praise from his beloved Haruka. _'A-plus'_, he had said...for some reason, that made him feel so giddy.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" he asked, slightly hopeful: for what, he wasn't quite sure.

The brunette had to regulate his breathing before answering, trying to think of something to say that didn't sound completely stupid. "N-Not really, I just wanted to hear Haru-chan."

"Are you sure that's all you wanted to do?"

Ugh, he was like a mind-reader! Were all teenagers like this? "Y-Yeah!" It was a lie. He had wanted to talk about...touching. But the mood was sort of wrecked now, and that was completely his fault, but it was still a pretty disappointing conclusion.

"Alright. Are you excited for tomorrow?"

"Y-Yes!"

"I have something planned."

"R-Right," Makoto stuttered. Holy crap, he had to get off the phone before he got a nosebleed. The excitement was literally overwhelming him. "B-bye!"

"Later." Haruka hung up, smiling at his phone as he pressed the 'end' button. Could his little whale get any cuter? Sadly, 'cute' didn't always cut it. He had much preferred a more dirty call, but perhaps he would learn with time, and Haru didn't have a problem with waiting.

Except for tomorrow, because tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

Makoto showed up at his door, wearing a cute, striped tanktop and khaki shorts. He hesitated a bit before ringing the doorbell, nervous about today. The past few days, he was much shyer than he usually would be, and it sort of frustrated him but...

...why wasn't Haruka answering the door? Frowning, he pushed the doorbell again.

Still no answer.

"Hmm, it can't be helped," he grumbled, standing there for what seemed like minutes, before getting bored and circling around the house. As expected, he found a back door. Smiling at his discovery, he threw it open and stepped inside. "Haru-chan!"

Makoto froze for a bit, nose twitching. He smelled something delicious. Running to where he remembered the kitchen was, he found Haruka standing in front of the oven, shirtless, and in grey sweatpants, with a blue apron tied around his lower back.

His face turned bright red as he brought his hand up over his mouth to hide his huge grin.

Haruka turned just his head, blinking his half-lidded blue eyes, shifting his weight to his left foot, letting his hip roll sexily with it. "Mako-chan. I was just making some lunch."

Collecting himself, he hurried over to the oven to see what was in the cooking pot. His eyes widened in joy when he saw it was his most favorite meal that his mother would make. "_Green curry_," he gasped.

"I hope it's alright, I didn't taste it," he said, pouring it into a small bowl, and grabbing some coconut milk to pour into it. "Can you give me the basil?"

Makoto looked around, before seeing some chopped basil on the nearby cutting board. He grabbed a few bits between his fingers, and then sprinkled it on the top of the bowl, and laughed. "I'm so happy! How did you know?"

Haruka handed him the bowl, smiling. "I overheard you talking with your mother about it once. I hope mine can compare."

He cradled the bowl in his hands, staring down at it with a grin on his face. He just couldn't stop smiling. "What are you going to eat?"

"I made some lemon herb fish for myself with the leftover ingredients. And there's rice on the table, already. As well as some water."

"Ha-Haru-chan, that's amazing! Thank you!"

He just nodded. "You can go sit down."

"Y-Yes!" He ran to the table, sitting so that he was facing the kitchen, staring at Haruka's back, while he was in that apron, watching carefully as he untied it and slipped it off with total grace. That was a sexy sight.

And even better, when he grabbed his plate and walked over to the table, shirtless, sitting on his left, close enough for him to see little beads of sweat from cooking in the kitchen on a hot, summer day, making his smooth skin glisten just perfectly.

"Thank you for the meal!" Makoto cried, grabbing his utensils and diving in to the curry without mercy, despite it being piping hot.

"Thank you for the meal," Haru said quietly, carefully nibbling on his fish.

"_Whoaa_! Haru-chan, this curry is better than my mom's!"

"I wouldn't say _that_."

"But it's true!" He looked at Haruka's plate a little more, and frowned. "Haru-chan, do you only eat fish? Are you a vegetarian?"

He swallowed before answering. "No," he said simply, taking a large sip of water, "are you?"

"Nope!"

As his bowl became more and more empty, he started paying less attention to the food inside it, and more to the muscular teen next to him.

The conversation hadn't moved any further, and it was almost as if both of them were much more shy than they were during their last encounter, but the silence was finally broken when Haruka held a chunk of fish in his chopsticks up to Makoto's mouth. "You can try it," he said quietly, a slight red tint on his cheeks.

"Ahh!" Makoto blushed, taking it into his mouth. The thought that he had just shared chopsticks with Haru made his head spin, and he almost felt as if this day was going to be too overwhelming with emotion. It was just that with every move, he liked him more, and more, and with every minute that went by, he wanted to repeat what they had done two days ago with even more enthusiasm. After swallowing, he smiled, "It tastes great!"

"Thank goodness."

"So, Haru-chan, what are we going to do today? You said you had something planned!"

Haruka put down his plate, looking at Makoto's cute, round face, admiring the little bits of rice stuck to around his mouth. Forcing himself to turn away from his little whale, he laid down on the floor, stretching to reach a box that was laying in the far corner of the room. Sitting up again, the box in his lap, he opened it. "I wanted to draw."

* * *

"I'm _so_ bad at art!"

"No one is 'good' or 'bad' at art. Beauty is in the eye of the viewer."

Makoto pouted, looking over at the piece of paper Haruka was diligently coloring in with crayon. It looked to be a killer whale in mid jump, coming out from the ocean. It wasn't near finished yet, but it was already completely gorgeous, and very realistic. "Hmmm, how are you so good at that?"

"I told you. No one can be 'good' or 'bad' at art."

"You are clearly good, though!" He cried, genuinely frustrated. "I can't draw anything..."

Haruka paused coloring to look over at Makoto's picture: a simplistic beach, with an almost-deformed looking dolphin hopping out of the water. Their pictures were surprisingly similar in idea, and Haruka found happiness in thinking that Makoto may have copied him. He liked that thought. He liked Makoto's eyes on him. Regardless of how 'bad' it looked, he loved it. "I think it looks great," he admitted.

"You're just saying that to be nice...it's so ugly! Teach me how to draw!"

Haruka looked around the room, getting up and sliding open the closet door, grabbing a very old trophy, that had a golden dolphin on it. He placed it on the table, and then got behind Makoto, wrapping his legs around the boy's waist and pulling him close, making sure he could feel his abs through the soft fabric of his tanktop.

Grabbing a grey marker, he put it into Makoto's right hand, putting aside the picture (he'd put it on the fridge, later), and getting a new piece of paper, pulling it in front of him. He then put his hand on top of the eleven-year-old's. "Draw exactly what you see."

"What if I mess up in front of you," he whined, seriously self-conscious about it. The thought of drawing something ugly in front of such a good artist made him feel pretty nervous.

"Don't think about it. Just do it."

That struck a chord in him: it was just like swimming, and he had been able to swim on the deep end just like Haru had said. If he could do that, he could do this, too. He started moving his hand, letting Haruka's guide him in the strokes of the marker, and in the end, they had a jagged, but pretty realistic-looking dolphin outline.

Haruka let go, and hugged Makoto tight, resting his chin on the small shoulder. "See? You did it just fine."

"It was only because of Haruka."

"_Believe_ in yourself," he whispered, moving away the strap of the tanktop and nipping at his tiny collarbone that lay underneath.

Makoto furrowed his brow, reaching back and touching Haruka's hair a little: it felt so slick and cool, strands gently falling through his small fingers. "It's hard to try new things."

"New things are always scary at first, but you can't be afraid to even try them."

"I bet you never get scared of anything," sighed Makoto, "you were so brave during that movie."

"I get scared, sometimes, too." Haruka sat up, looking right into Makoto's eyes. The boy blushed and looked away.

"Stop saying things you don't mean."

"It's true." He pulled his face away, but pulled the brunette further into his lap, taking the marker they had just drawn with and putting the cap on it. He held it up to Makoto's mouth. "Suck on this."

"H-Huh?"

"Trust me," Haruka smiled. And that smile was just so warm, so comforting, Makoto couldn't refuse. He closed his eyes, nervously clutching on to the fabric of Haru's sweats as he took the marker into his mouth, sucking on it like he had his cock a few days before, learning to swirl his tongue around it properly.

The teen started moving it in and out, making the younger boy moan around it in pleasure, feeling something hard grow against his lower back, and something similar in his own shorts. Was _this_ what Haruka had planned?

Soon he pulled the marker out, holding it in his own mouth while he gently coaxed Makoto forward and down, leaning on the table with his elbows, while he pulled down his shorts effortlessly, briefs along with them. After giving his small ass a nice, hard spank (eliciting a very _sexy_ moan from Makoto), he took the marker out of his mouth and set it aside, spreading his cheeks, taking in the sight of the boy's clutching hole.

"Do you know why you do this," he asked softly, letting his finger run circles around the sensitive ring of flesh, watching as it desperately begged for something to be inserted.

"N-No..."

"It's aching to be filled with something."

Makoto squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his face into his forearms, glad the table was there for support.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"T-The marker?"

Perfect. He held his ass open with one hand, grabbing it, spitting on it one more time before pressing it against the hole, watching as it completely disappeared in record time. His little whale sighed in pleasure at the intrusion, welcoming it more than Haruka expected he would.

"Is it too dry?"

"No..."

Blue eyes twinkled in pleasure as he watched the marker twist in and out of his ass, positioning it at different angles, trying to find the spot that would make him beg for more. It didn't take long.

"Ahh~! Ha-_Haru-chan_!"

"Is that good?"

"I want it to be your _finger_," he cried, biting on to his arm to stay quiet, embarrassed of the loud noises he was making from just a silly marker.

Haruka blushed a bit: that was what he had been waiting to hear. Pulling the marker out and throwing it aside, he positioned Makoto so that he was laying on the floor, legs spread wide, Haruka between them. He reached down and inserted a finger slowly into the tight hole, moaning quietly under his breath at the constriction he felt.

He wriggled his finger around for a bit, purposely ignoring his special spot, until he managed his middle finger in as well, then heading straight for it, making Makoto see stars, and cry out, his voice going straight to Haru's cock.

_That _was why he wasn't wearing boxers. He shoved the sweatpants down, freeing his painfully hard erection.

Makoto's heart was racing, he could feel his cock, hardly even touched that afternoon, pulsating, sending good chills up his developing body, so close to release already. Never before had he felt so happy, so loved, and so complete. "H-Haru-chan, I'm g-gonna finish! _Don't stop_!"

"I won't stop," the teen reassured, leaning forward, growling into his ear, biting the lobe gently and rubbing his own cock with extreme vigor, moaning softly as he nipped down Makoto's neck to his collar bone, giving him his first hickey as his two fingers prodded at his prostate.

Makoto wailed, grabbing down at his rock-hard erection and pumping once, twice, before releasing all over Haruka's abs, and his own stomach.

Pulling his hand out immediately, so not to cause any discomfort to him, he kissed him passionately, wrapping his newly freed hand around his own cock and jacking it hard until he felt himself ready to blow. Desperately, he crawled over Makoto, knees on either side of his head, staring down at his face lovingly as he finally came all over it, watching as the boy squeezed his eyes shut, and making a face as some shot on to his tongue.

Remember what Haruka had done for him, he hesitantly swallowed what had landed in his mouth. The lifeguard shuffled away from him on his knees, before falling down on to the floor on his back, staring at the ceiling, catching his breath.

Makoto climbed over to him, taking his softening cock in his hand and licking at the tip a bit more, some cum still rolling down his cheeks.

"W-What are you doing?" Haruka asked, exasperated.

Makoto pulled away, smiling at him. "It tastes saltier than mine, but better, too."

_'You've tasted your own cum before_?' he wanted to ask, but he was too tired to make it come out of his mouth. He just laid there, panting quickly dying down to shallow breathing. He felt a heavy weight on him, and opened his eyes to see Makoto laying on him, eyes closed, face still smeared with cum.

They better get into the bath before he got too horny again.

* * *

"We still have a few hours, so, just tell me what you want to do. There isn't much up here, but we could still go back downstairs and draw."

But Makoto was interested in his bedroom. It was very plain, but he liked it. It suited Haruka well, and it even smelled heavily of the ocean, just like he did. "Give me a tour!"

Haruka sighed, finding that idea incredibly boring, not quite sure why his little whale would want to even do such a thing, but he'd give him whatever he wanted. "Fine..."

He showed him his desk, his bed, the view out his window, and his dresser with all of his clothes in it. "That's really all there is," he said.

He picked up the pieces of the photograph that were laying on the top of the dresser, recognizing it as being the one from the other day.

Haruka looked away, putting his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, opening the sliding door and stepping out. "Come on."

The boy frowned, walking over to Haruka, and holding out his hands with the picture pieces. "Put it back together."

Haruka didn't respond.

"I don't know who this is, but I know you were friends when this picture was taken, and I think he'd be really hurt if he saw the way you ripped it apart. So you should put it back together, okay, Haru-chan?"

He collected the pieces and looked down at them. Would Rin really be 'hurt'? Would Rin care_ at all_?

He had loved Rin. At least, he _thought_ he did, at the time. They both shared that passion for water, for swimming. Yet, Rin always wanted to be better than Haruka. He wouldn't show it all the time, but it came out in the little subtle things he said, the way he was so upset each time he lost a friendly race, the way he never gave Haruka any control in the relationship whatsoever.

It started on his terms, and it definitely ended on his terms. They could have texted, they could have e-mailed, they could have called. But he decided not to do any of that. He left Haru for _dead_.

At least that's how it felt.

"Thank you, Makoto..." He was quiet for quite some time before continuing, "The person in this picture wasn't the nicest to me. But it wasn't very nice of me to do this, either. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me! Just tape it back together!"

Haruka nodded, but he had _wanted_ to tear up that picture, extinguish any residual energy towards Rin, because that's what Haruka _needed_: something fresh, something new, _Makoto_.

Makoto smiled then, pulling his hand towards the sitting room. "Let's find the tape!"

He crawled on all fours, looking in each cupboard. Haruka sat crosslegged at the table, just watching him, taking in the nice view of his bum.

"Ah! Here it is!" He held it up in victory, laughing.

"Give it here." Haruka took it, and craftily repaired the photograph. Mako snatched it out of his hands, and ran over to his small bulletin board, pinning it up there before Haruka could protest.

The doorbell ring.

"Already?!" Makoto whined, seriously hoping it wasn't his mother ready to pick him up, or his grandma, here to badger him and get him to go home with her.

"Stay here, I'll answer it." Haruka stood up, running a hand through his hair and padding over to the door, opening it.

It was Nagisa, and his little butterfly, Rei, hiding behind him, his cheeks almost as red as his glasses, clutching on to Nagisa's shorts.

"Haru-_chaannn_~! Me and Rei-chan made you some sushi! ...Ah? Is that Mako-chan?"

Makoto whimpered, coming up to the door and hiding a bit behind Haruka's leg, as Rei was doing with Nagisa.

Nagisa knelt down, the box of sushi still in his hands, and a big grin on his face. "Ah, Mako-chan, you're so cute today! It's hot, huh? The clouds just came out, that's why me and Rei-chan decided to go on a walk to deliver these!" He stood back up, handing Haruka the box. "It was Rei-chan's idea, too!"

Haruka gave a small smile at Rei, who only blushed harder. "Thank you, Rei."

"Y-you're welcome!"

"Ah, but it _is_ heating up again, so maybe we can come in and enjoy the shade for awhile!" Nagisa barged in, pulling Rei with him. Haruka sighed. Typical Nagisa. He really had only come for something to do (rather, to _annoy_ him). "And it's just so perfect that Mako-chan is here! Now they can play!"

Makoto glared at Rei, crossing his arms. He_ really _didn't want to play with that guy...


	3. Fear

_**A/N: **__Hello, readers! If you have direct questions, please PM me or post with your account, I can't really reply to anon reviews :( But to the one anon who did ask, when will I update, and how long it will be, etc, I really don't know. I write on impulse when I feel inspired. I can't promise anything. As for length, as long as it takes to tell the story I want to tell, I guess? I have a general timeline in my head (at least a few more chapters). Well, enjoy chapter 3!_

* * *

"Let's go outside, Mako-chan!" Rei smiled.

"Huh? But I thought you just said it was too hot out."

"Just Nagisa-chan thinks that. I want to run up the stairs again!"

Makoto frowned. "_That's_ fun to you?"

"_Yeah_, I like jumping up them!"

The brunette sighed: this guy was a weirdo. "Well, I'd prefer to stay inside."

Rei opened one of Haruka's closets, looking inside at the trophies that lay forgotten in a box. "_Whoa_! What's this? So beautiful..."

"D-Don't be touching Haru's stuff! That's not nice!" He got up, pulling the closet closed. "Don't you have any manners?"

Rei frowned. "_Nagisa_ lets me go wherever I want in his house."

"Well, Haru is different!"

Haruka put the sushi in the fridge, and went out to the main sitting room, watching the two younger boys argue. Nagisa followed, but his eye was caught by the newly-patched-up picture hanging on the bulletin board.

"Rin?"

Haruka sighed.

Nagisa looked at his friend, concerned. He was really confused about the situation, now...was he missing Rin, or was he "with" Makoto? Instead, he commented on the drawing of the dolphin. "_Whoaaa_! This drawing is so great! Mako-chan, is this yours?"

Makoto blushed, scratching his cheek a little. "W-well, I didn't do it by _myself_..."

"Still, it's _so_ good! You could be an artist when you grow up!"

The redness in his cheeks deepened: he was going a bit overboard with that statement...Makoto wondered if this was how he talked to Rei, too? He definitely laid on the compliments...

"Let's eat the sushi _nowwwww_," Rei whined.

"_Rei-chan_! We made those for Haru-chan. We can make more sushi tomorrow and eat them together."

He pouted, crossing his arms, running over to Haruka's side. "Can I eat them Haru-chan? _Please_? Haru-chan would let me eat some, right?"

"Sure." He really didn't care, either way.

Rei smiled, running to the fridge and taking the box out, sitting on the floor and eating them greedily. Nagisa followed after, kneeling on the floor next to him scolding him gently, but indulging in feeding him one or two.

Makoto frowned, sitting down at the table, trying to stay polite. Haruka sat across from him. "Sorry about this."

"I don't mind!"

He watched as Haru tensed a bit, standing back up, as if he was very uncomfortable. "I'll be right back." He jogged upstairs.

He couldn't contain his curiosity: he had to follow him up the stairs, hoping he wasn't annoying him too much. He entered his bedroom, seeing him pull a grey t-shit over his head. It was tight and form-fitting, but it was still a disappointment that his abs were now hidden.

Haruka turned his head, looking Makoto straight in the eyes. Somehow, whenever he looked at him from that angle, he looked something like a model, and it always made his heart race.

"Should we just stay up here?"

Makoto grinned, nodding, and pouncing on to his bed. Haru gave the smallest of smiles, and followed after, curling on his side and pulling Makoto close to him, staring into his eyes. He never really liked physical contact, but with Makoto, everything seemed natural, and new, and _safe_. He _never_ felt that way with Rin.

"Tell me what you know about me, Makoto."

He swallowed hard, the smell of Haruka (chlorine) right in his nose as the teen leaned in close to his face, their eyes staring into each other's. It made him all hot and bothered, but he was content, too. The closeness was exciting, and comforting. Haruka was calming, and peaceful, and Makoto really enjoyed that about him.

"You are a boy with a girly name just like me..." Makoto started, with a giggle. Haruka kissed his nose in response and continued to listen. "And, you like to swim freestyle. Also, I think you like dolphins. And, you're _really_ good at swimming. And, baths are your favorite thing. Also, you only eat fish, I think, though you're not a vegetarian. Hmm...and you're in high school, and you're not scared of really anything. Lastly, you're a really good drawer! Oh, jeez, and you cook well too, I couldn't forget that."

Haruka closed his eyes, a smile on his lips as he rested his head into the pillow. His little whale was adorable, and the best part was that he was all _his_. Rin would have never said such cute things about him. He probably would have made a joke out of the question, whereas Makoto thought really long and hard about it.

"_Haru-chan_," Makoto whispered, leaning close to his ear, "I like when we touched."

The words went straight to Haru's cock, and he groaned under his breath in protest, pulling the boy closer. "Don't say things like that right now. You're getting me..."

He just giggled in response.

Haruka sighed, pulling him on top of his chest, rolling on his back. "Do you think we should just fall asleep up here?"

"That would be rude, Haru-chan!"

"They're the ones being rude," he grumbled, kissing Makoto's cheek, blinking his eyes groggily.

"_HARU-CHAAAAAAN_," came Nagisa's voice from downstairs.

Makoto looked at Haruka, and they both laughed, Makoto much more than Haruka, but still, it was a chuckle, and it made Mako very happy to see him that way. He crawled off him and watched him get up and stumble down the stairs back to the kitchen, yawning.

"I'm really tired, and I decided you should go. Or stay here and watch T.V., or something, I don't care, but we are going to go take a nap."

Nagisa frowned, wiping a stray grain of rice off Rei's face. "Fine, fine, I get the idea, you don't want us here."

Makoto ran down the stairs and waved at Rei. "Bye-bye!" he said, excited for them to leave.

The younger boy frowned, pushing his glasses up his nose and standing up, moving to Haruka and grabbing his hand. "Do we _have_ to leave, Haru-chan?"

"Call me Nanase."

He frowned, letting go of his hand, feeling pretty hurt from the statement. "C-C'mon, Nagisa-chan..."

"Right..." Nagisa stood up, looking at Haruka with a frown, "...we have to talk later," he mumbled, before walking past him and grabbing Rei's hand, leading him out of the house.

Haru picked up the empty box of sushi. "They ate them all."

"That whole visit was pointless!"

"Mm."

The brunette followed him back up to his bedroom, though something was nagging at him. "Should I call you Nanase-san, too?"

"No." Haruka closed the door behind them and stripped off his shirt, flopping on to his bed once more like a tired cat.

"So I can still call you Haru-chan?"

"Maybe just Haru. You're the _-chan_."

"But Haru-chan suits you so well!" He crawled next to him, following his cue and taking off his tanktop, letting it fall next to the stripped t-shirt. Haru wrapped his arms around him again, eyes closed.

Makoto, himself, was starting to feel a bit sleepy, and soon found himself drifting into dreams of green curry and markers.

* * *

His days with his grandma really dulled compared to when he was being babysit by Haruka. He missed him completely, and could only watch the clock as the day went on, waiting for it to be two o'clock so that he could be dropped off at the swim club.

It couldn't come fast enough.

Then, when he did get there, he had to wait until closing time to get any sort of attention out of Haruka whatsoever, though unbeknownst to him, he watched him the entire time. He'd practice his backstroke, play with some younger kids once in awhile, practice his breaststroke with a lack of enthusiasm, and then just sort of float around, staring at the clock, counting the number of people as they left, until the last father and daughter left, and it was just him, alone in the pool.

And then Haruka would dive in from his chair, emerging from the water soaked, giving his hair a nice shake.

Makoto eagerly swam over to him. "Hi!"

"I have a request."

"Hm?"

"Next time, come with your swimsuit under your clothes," his hands moved down to Makoto's stomach, touching his forming abs under the water, "so I can undress you myself."

His face went red, enjoying the tingly feeling he got as those words left the older teen's mouth. He nodded in agreement.

"Are you ready for your next lesson?"

He nodded, still not ready to form complete sentences!

But, suddenly, Haru heaved him up in his arms, and walked to the deep end, ducking under, and using one arm to swim to the center.

Makoto's teeth started to chatter a bit, and his chest tightened up. He really hated this feeling: he _never _wanted to go to in this far. There was just some part of him that told him it _wasn't safe_. "H-Haru, I _can't_..." he whimpered, squirming in his arms, kicking harshly now.

"All you have to do is _trust _the water."

"I _can't _trust it," Makoto cried, and continued to struggle against Haruka's grasp. Although he was tall and muscular for his age, he stood no chance against a sixteen-year-old athlete, and that frustrated him. This was escalating quickly.

Haruka held him in place sternly. "If you stop kicking and shouting, you'll be able to tread easily! You did it just the other day."

"I don't want to! _I-can't-trust-it_!"

And Haru finally realized that Makoto was actually _crying_. Feeling sort of guilty, and confused, he let go of him, watching as he immediately swam to the wall, holding on to it and shimmying to the divider, where he ducked under, and then swam backstroke to the steps, arms heavy and strong in the water.

He got up, dripping wet, breath heavy, eyes red and watery. Haruka looked away, turning his back to Makoto and swimming the opposite length of the pool.

The boy's face scrunched up in agony, more tears flooding his eyes as he cried out and ran out the exit to the waiting room, passed the sign-in desk, out the doors, and he stood in front of the building, shivering, holding on to himself as he cried.

Why was Haruka so mean? Why didn't he understand that he didn't want to go in the deep end? He just didn't want to. He wasn't _Haruka_. He didn't swim_ freestyle_. He didn't like being _submerged _underwater. He just _didn't_. Couldn't Haruka understand that?

"Mako-chan!"

He turned around, wiping his teary green eyes. It was Nagisa, though he wasn't wearing a lifeguard's jacket, just some shorts and a polo.

Nagisa knelt down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong? Come inside, and we can talk, okay?"

Makoto sniffed, following him inside. They stood in the lobby next to the vending machines. "I'm here doing some paperwork, and I saw you run out...what's the matter, Mako-chan?" He looked sincerely concerned, and it made Makoto a little happier to have someone like that in his life: he was always being made to be the bigger one, the stronger one, the one his siblings could look up to, and the one his father could be proud of.

But he had problems, too, just like everyone else, except hardly anyone to talk about them with.

"I...I...told Haru I didn't...wanna swim on the deep end...and then he made me, even though...I told him not to."

"Shhh," Nagisa cooed, wiping some of the wet hair out of his eyes. "That wasn't very nice of Haruka," he said, frowning.

"A-And then he just_ ignored _me..."

"He didn't mean it. He probably just didn't know what to say to comfort you, because he felt awkward for putting you in that situation. Trust me, I've known him for a very long time...he just isn't the best at expressing himself."

"I'm s-scared because he seemed mad at me," sniffed Makoto, finally beginning to get some control into his voice, "because I didn't want to swim in the deep end."

"Aww...Haruka's not mad at you," he rubbed his shoulders soothingly, "want me to go talk to him?"

Makoto paused, thinking. He wondered if Haruka would even speak to him if he went in by himself..."Will you come with me?"

"Sure." Nagisa took his small hand and led him back into the pool area, where Haruka was standing at the towel rack, drying his hair off.

He glanced up when he heard the door slam shut, and his lips parted.

Makoto clutched on to Nagisa's shirt hem, feeling more nervous around Haruka than ever. The problem was that he looked just so darn _sexy_ in that pose right now.

"Haruka, what you did to Makoto wasn't very nice."

He inhaled, then exhaled loudly, turning away, and working harder at his hair with the towel. "I was just trying to help him." Makoto was about to speak, but Haruka continued, "I don't know why it was such a big deal. He swam fine in it just a few days ago."

"I wasn't so far away from the edge," he protested.

Haruka closed his eyes, feeling really uncomfortable with the situation. Of course he felt _bad_ about it, but what could he _do_? Nothing he could say would take what he did back, and anyway, he was just trying to _help_ in the first place. "Nagisa, leave. Makoto, come here."

Makoto didn't even look back at Nagisa as he separated from his side, shuffling over to Haruka, looking up at him, a now stubborn, determined look on his face. The blonde teen sighed, nodded, and left, leaving them alone again in the complex against his own will.

"I'm sorry for what I did," he ruffled his hair, awkwardly, wanting to say more, but not quite sure of what to say, "...will you forgive me?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad." He leaned down, pulling Makoto's chin up, and kissing him on his lips.

The boy blushed, clutching on to his wrists as he closed his eyes, relaxing into the kiss, opening his mouth slightly and letting Haruka's tongue enter his mouth and play with his own, suddenly feeling very hot. He must have felt very similar, because once they pulled away, he threw the towel off his head and dove into the pool. Makoto laughed a little, sitting on the edge of the end of the shallow section, watching him swim.

After swimming a few hundred meters, he eventually just closed his eyes, and floated on his back.

He looked so beautiful like that. So relaxed, so peaceful, so at ease and away from the stress of the world. Makoto wanted to be like that, too. In fact, a part of him _needed _to be like that.

Scooting over on the edge passed the divider, he took a deep breath, and sunk into the water, twisting on to his back and closing his eyes, letting himself float to the surface. He gave himself a gentle kick to propel himself away from the wall and towards the center, next to Haruka.

Haru opened his eyes and looked at him, a smile on his face. All he needed to do was just let Mako go at his own pace, try things on his own, let him be his own person, and conquer his fears by himself. He should have realized this from the start.

"Mako-chan," he said, breaking the silence after about five minutes, "when you swim, you remind me of an orca."

"An orca? What's that?"

"A whale."

He opened his eyes, frowning. "Whales are fat."

"No...they're beautiful, ferocious creatures that slice through the water without mercy." Makoto was silent. He didn't really know what to say to that: Haruka was pretty artistic when it came to things like this. Makoto hardly gave things a second thought. "I think...it's good for me to be around someone like you, who sees it in a different way. You love swimming just as much as I do, but you move the water, whereas I let the water move me."

"I don't really think about it that much," Makoto admitted. "I just wanted to try swimming because I thought it would be neat. Then I ended up really liking it, although..." he sort of just trailed off, not sure if he should continue the thought.

There was another long pause, and Haruka said, quietly, "I'm sorry I made you do something you didn't want to do."

"It's okay, Haru-chan...but, now that I'm here, I'm sorta scared to go back."

Haruka twisted his body so he was treading, and reached out for him. "Give me your hand."

Makoto took it, and pulled himself to Haruka's body, holding tightly around his neck, letting him wade with his free arm to the edge, and grabbing on, allowing Makoto to do the same. Haruka pulled out, and reached out for Makoto, but the boy insisted on shimmying all the way to the shallow end before letting go to pull up.

The brunette hugged him tight, and Haru's blue eyes widened in slight shock, then relaxed again as he exhaled, and wrapped his arms around him. He paused, then lifted him up in his arms, holding him as close to him as he could get, letting his developing arms wrap around his neck, feeling his heavy head rest on his strong shoulder.

Physical contact just felt so _nice _with him, especially when they were dripping wet like this.

"Are we still boyfriends?" Makoto whimpered, words vibrating on Haruka's moist skin.

He smiled: so Makoto really _did_ think they were 'boyfriends'. That was _adorable_. "Yes," he said, kissing his head and carrying him to the exit, kicking it open, finding his mother sitting in the lobby, chatting with Nagisa.

She stood up and greeted Haruka with a bow, thanking him like she always did as he set him down on the floor. "You're welcome," he said.

They both waved goodbye to Makoto and his mother as they left the swim club.

"I can't believe you didn't bring a change of clothes! You're going to catch a cold, walking around soaking wet. You hardly even dried off."

"Sorry, Kaa-san..."

She looked down at her son, then paused when she saw something on his shoulder. She stopped walking and knelt down next to him, putting her hands on his shoulders and looking at the mark. "Huh? What is that, Makoto?"

His brow furrowed and he looked down at his collarbone (it was a really awkward angle) seeing what looked like a soft bitemark, just a little purple circling the area.

"I, uhm..."

His mother looked concerned.

Thinking on his feet, he gently slapped her hand away and kept walking. "A kid bit me at the pool today when I was trying to help him."

"Oh my, that's horrible!"

"Yeah..." he muttered. Thank goodness that she fell for that...

* * *

He sat in his bathtub, lukewarm because his siblings had used it before he did. He watched as the water slipped through his fingers each time he brought his hand up passed the surface. He watched he had some of Haruka's toys to play with: they were much more amusing than one would think.

Makoto sighed, feeling his collarbone where Haru had bit him. He closed his eyes, letting his index finger circle around it slowly. It was risky letting Haruka do that, though he never really thought about the repercussions, but he wanted _more._ He wanted Haruka to nip him all over his body, suck and kiss and leave marks everywhere until Makoto was completely his and everyone would know it.

He frowned, splashing the water with his palm. That couldn't happen, because if his mother knew, that would be bad. _If only there was a way to hide it_.

Looking down, he saw that he had a newly formed erection. Blushing slightly, he squeezed his legs together, trying to get rid of it, but...

He got out of the bath, wrapping a towel around his waist and sneaking into the living room, making sure his mother was busy with the twins and his father was occupied with the paper before he snatched the phone and ran up to his bedroom. Giddy with excitement, his blood pumping at doing something so naughty (really, it wasn't naughty at all, but to him, who was usually a little angel for his parents, it was), he shut his door quietly and sat on his bed, back propped up against the wall, legs spread with his free hand dangling close to his crotch, using the redial to call Haruka.

Haru was currently struggling to finish his English literature essay that was due when they returned from summer break, finding it extremely exhausting, and very frustrating. Writing, especially in English, was his weak point, and doing so made him just want to groan and stare out the window, hopelessly wishing he could be swimming instead.

"She...wanted...to...um, is that with two 'o's or..."

His cell rang.

He sprang up, eager for something to do other than his daunting essay. Seeing that it was Makoto's home number, he wasn't sure if it would be him again or his mother, so he decided to answer it calmly, "Hello. Nanase speaking."

"Haru!"

His face softened as he fell back down on to his bed, kicking his dumb notebook off lazily with his foot. "Mako-chan...?"

He giggled, and the sound made a tremor of happiness pulse through his being. "I was thinking about you in the bath."

"Oh?"

"The other day you left a mark on me. My mom saw it, but...I sorta lied, and she believed me about it." Haruka was quiet, so Makoto continued, "When I was in the bath, I thought about Haru making more marks on me, like sucking on me, or biting me gently. All over my body."

Haruka closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose, feeling his hand drop down to his crotch, palming it through his sweats. The idea of marking Makoto in that way, making sure everyone at the swim club knew he was his, really turned him on.

"I want to do it in real life, but I'm scared people would see..."

"We could do it."

"Really?" And his voice was so innocent, so happily excited for something so dirty, it almost made Haruka feel guilty.

"Yes...do as I said, and wear your swimsuit underneath your clothes. Let me undress you, and redress you, too."

"H-Haru-chan...would like doing that?"

"Mm." He didn't exactly know why, but it really turned him on to think about caring for Makoto in that way. Maybe it was because he was never really cared for himself, or maybe because he knew Makoto cared for everyone around him, and not so much himself, but he wanted to spoil him rotten.

"Then I will!"

He pushed his sweatpants to his ankles, kicking them off to the side as he readjusted himself on his bed, free hand between his legs, cupping his balls softly, imagining it with Mako's hand. "Are you touching yourself?"

"No...are you?"

"Yes," he hissed, closing his eyes and moving his hand up, squeezing the very base of his cock. "Can you touch yourself for Haru?" he muttered, pretty embarrassed of asking for such a thing, but at the same time, getting even more turned on from it.

"I-I will try..." he said, innocently. "But can you tell me what you're doing?"

Haruka exhaled deeply through his nose, feeling so hard he was almost in pain. He moved his hand from his cock to his chest, feeling his way back down, passed his abs and belly button, then back up again. "I'm touching my stomach."

"Haruka has so many muscles there...Mako-chan will like to touch them more."

"I'm imagining it's you who is touching them, Mako-chan."

Makoto giggled quietly over the phone and it sent yet another shock down to his cock, and he couldn't take it any more. Grabbing it in his hand, he began to furiously jack it, his breathing picking up speed, getting heavier and heavier as his hand moved faster. "W-what about you?"

"I'm just imagining Haru-chan and his body...and touching it, too. _Ahh_..a-and touching my own...but pretending it's Haru-chan who is doing it."

The teen let out a soft moan, arching into his hand, tightening it as he thrust forward, as if it was Makoto's asshole eating him up as he drove into him. "You're so...tight, Mako-chan."

Haru seemed pretty in control, whereas Makoto was a complete mess now, writhing and squirming around on his bed like never before. His face was red, and hot, and he was whimpering, and making embarrassing little noises as he continued to listen to Haruka's fantasies, listen to Haruka mutter out his name so cute like that, with the -chan on it, hearing him groan in pleasure, imagining that he was really having sex with him. It was something like he had never experienced before, and somehow, it was much more sensual, pretending like this, than doing it for real. He had no idea why, but he would listen to his cock, which was currently telling him this was the_ best thing _that had ever happened to him.

"Ha-Haru-chan_...Haru-chan_...I'm so hard..."

"Suck your fingers good...like you did the marker, and...let me hear it."

Using his shoulder to hold the phone to his ear, he reached down pumping his erection with one hand while bringing the other to his mouth, blushing as he started to noisily suckle on his pointer and middle fingers, feeling quite shy when Haruka instructed him to make louder wet noises.

When he deemed them wet enough, he brought them down to his anus, grabbing hold of the phone again. "I...I'm gonna put one in."

"Mm," he grunted, almost to his climax at the very thought of the boy on the other line, all hot and bothered just for him.

After fumbling around a bit to actually reach his anus in that position, he pushed his index finger in with some force, gasping quietly as it slid up the tight hole. He prodded and prodded, but couldn't quite seem to find that spot Haruka had touched so well before. Giving up, he settled on just moving the finger in and out of him at as fast as a pace as he could go. It really wasn't anything, compared to Haruka's long, slender fingers, but the panting in his ear through the speaker of the phone helped.

"Imagine it's Haru's fingers, Mako-chan."

He did, and that thought was really getting to him. Haruka's fingers, Haruka behind him, Haruka touching him, Haruka giving him special attention that no one else would ever get from him. "_F-Fuck me_, Haru-chan..." He felt very naughty saying it, and almost didn't want to, but the thought of disappointing the teenager was unacceptable. Though he had only ever vaguely heard that term used, he hope he was being sexy by saying it.

"O-ohh..." Haru gave one last moan before releasing all over his stomach and hand, panting quickly turning into silence as he strained his ears to hear any and all noises Makoto was making on the other line.

"I-I can't f-find the spot, Ha-Haru..."

Haruka smiled to himself, almost feeling guilty, but deciding to keep the location of that spot secret to the little brunette, liking the idea that only he could give him that immense pleasure that sent him over the edge.

"Ha-Haru-chan..." He pulled his finger out and started pumping his cock with all of his might. "Ha-harder...p-please..."

Letting his eyes fall shut, Haruka listened as it seemed Makoto finally discovered the pleasure of the imagination. It was nice to listen to, though he did start to begin wishing that he would hurry up and finish, or he'd have to go another round. "Touch right at the top," he advised.

"Oh...o-oh, Ha-Haru..._Haru..._it's so good...it's so_ good_," he moaned, trying to keep his voice down, trying to make sure no one else in the house would hear him, but it seemed like the more he tried, the harder it got, and all he could do was let go.

Makoto thought about Haruka, about his body, about the way he looked when he swam, about the water splashing around them in his bathtub as their bodies moved in time, and about Haru nipping at his shoulder, at his neck, at his ear, leaving his little love bites for all to see. He thought about his nice, _long_ cock, about how good his cum tasted, about how he wanted to taste it again, about how good it would taste _now_.

"Ha-_Haru-chan_!" He came, groaning as the hot, sticky semen coated his thin belly, mind suddenly going very blank and eyelids growing quite heavy.

He just laid there, eyes continually trying to open themselves, only to close soon after. It was late, and he was tired, and his body ached. It seemed Haru was back to his normal, quiet self, waiting for Makoto to initiate another conversation, but frankly, he was too tired to at the moment.

"Gotta...go," he panted, forcing himself to sit up in bed, holding the phone, hot from use, to his ear as he wiped himself with the towel, throwing it to the side as he opened his wardrobe, grabbing out some pajamas.

"Later," Haruka sighed, hanging up, tossing his phone aside, and falling back down on to his bed, glaring at the notebook that was laying next to him on the floor. Well, he had ignored it for a good twenty minutes, anyway.

* * *

"I'm glad I can be with Haru at night time! Too bad he has already bathed..."

Haru pulled the towel off from around his shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. "You were too much for me, last night."

Makoto frowned, not knowing if that was good or bad, and a bit scared to ask. He tilted his head to the side, brows turning upward, but Haruka just kept staring blankly ahead as he so often did. "W-well...what are we going to do tonight, Haru-chan?" He was a bit hesitant, and he guessed anything sexual was off the menu. Speaking of menu, it looks like Haruka didn't cook for them this time, either...

"We can make bracelets for each other," he finally said.

"Ahh! Like, to show that we are boyfriends?!"

Haruka nodded, smiling slightly, before looking away and digging in the carton of beads that was sitting on the table, grabbing two special ones out. He placed a whale in front of Makoto, and a dolphin in front of himself. "You have to use this in the bracelet."

"A whale again? Do you really like whales, Haruka? I thought you liked dolphins..."

"You are my little whale." Makoto blushed hard, looking down, liking the statement of ownership, but feeling very embarrassed by it, as well. "I want to have you with me, always. That's why we make these bracelets, to remind ourselves of each other."

"I'm bad at crafts," he grumbled, digging in the carton of beads to try to find black and yellow pieces that would match the whale charm.

"I'll love anything you make," Haru reminded him, carefully finding the pieces he imagined, and lining them up in a pattern in front of him before stringing them onto the elastic. "Oh," he said, blankly, suddenly standing up, "I made this for you." He strode over to the kitchen, pulling open the fridge and grabbing a small bowl, setting it and a spoon in front of the brunette with a hopeful look on his face. "It was my first time making chocolate flan. I hope it's not too bad."

Mako beamed, taking it, cheeks still red from the earlier comment, only growing darker at this new sign of affection. "I...I love chocolate. Haru, it's like you can always read my mind!" He took a big spoonful and hummed in delight. "It's amazing, Haru-chan! How do you make all these yummy things?"

"I like to move through my Grandmother's recipe book. It reminds me of her."

"Did you like your Grandma a lot, Haru-chan?"

"Yes," his eyes shifted towards the small shrine he had set up to her in the corner. Makoto followed his gaze. "That's nice, Haru-chan. You seem to just be good at everything...you'd be a really good big brother, I think."

"I'm not good at everything. You just don't see me struggle."

"Name one thing you struggle with," he cried, not believing that there was such a thing really, thrusting another spoonful of flan into his hungry mouth.

"English," the teen muttered, looking content as he gracefully strung each bead on to the elastic string with love.

"English? But it's so easy!"

"Easy to speak, not to write or read."

"It is for me! I love reading all kinds of books."

"Maybe some day you can teach me," he said playfully.

Makoto looked up from the flan with surprise. "No way!"

"Yes, way." Haruka smiled a bit, nudging him with his elbow.

He smiled big, making Haru's fade away as he stared more in awe at the beauty of the boy in front of him. "Haru-chan, you're the best!"

He looked away quickly, not wanting to really argue the point, as he was sure Makoto wouldn't see otherwise. He had no idea how far from perfect he really was, but he wasn't ready to let him see that side of him: not yet, anyway. In fact, just the other day he had let Mako down, because he shut off when he started to feel anything real, and Mako just wasn't like that. He sighed, stringing the last bead on. "Give me your wrist."

Laying his wrist on the table palm-up, letting Haru gently wrap the bracelet around, and tying a knot into it where it would fit comfortably. He grabbed the scissors and snipped off the remainder of the elastic. "There."

"_Wahhh_!" He held his hand up in front of him, examining both the front and the back. It was a beautiful pattern of blue, white, and clear beads, perfectly accenting the dolphin charm in the middle. "I'll wear it every day! It's so beautiful!"

"You make me one that I can wear every day, too, Makoto."

"Alright~...but it won't be as good as Haru's, that's for sure!"

"It will be." Haruka leaned over, holding his head with one hand and kissing it gently before pulling away and standing up to stretch.

Makoto frowned, furrowing his brow as he so often did, trying to tie the knot in his newly finished whale bracelet...though he just couldn't quite get it done. It was embarrassing. "Haru-chan, can you help meeee?"

After yawning and standing on his tip-toes, reaching up to the ceiling, he reverted back to his usual, bored look, kneeling down and carefully wrapping the bracelet around his own wrist. "You have to help me tie the knot, though." He used his free hand to do what he could, and gave Makoto exact instructions on how to assist him. "Now, cut the rest of it."

Makoto grabbed the scissors, following his command, smiling when Haruka pulled away and appreciated the bracelet. He really, really liked it, even if the beads didn't match, and seemed sort of random.

He and Rin never did anything this special together. "I really-"

The doorbell rang.

He frowned, moving over to the door, kicking Makoto's shoes aside, and opening it.

"Haru-chaaan! I'm so glad you're in tonight!"

"Mm."

Makoto peeked around the corner, seeing Nagisa at the door. Well, at least Rei wasn't with him this time...

"We are going on an end-of-break vacation!"

"We?"

"Me, you, Rei-chan, and Mako-chan! To Hakone!"

Haruka took a deep breath and sighed, letting Nagisa inside.

"Oh? Hi, Mako-chan!"

"Hi, Nagisa-chan!" Makoto smiled, "what are you here for?"

Nagisa sat down at the messy table, looking more excitable than usual, pink eyes bright and wide. "Onei-san gave me passes to Yunessun for the end of summer break!"

Haruka started to swipe the leftover beads back into the carton, and pick up the little pieces of elastic left over, throwing them in the garbage in the kitchen, while he listened to Nagisa and Makoto talk.

Makoto's mouth dropped open. "_Yunessun_?! T-the _onsen theme park_?" He had only really heard about it from his parents, who had gone to Hakone in their younger days. Apparently it had many different, exotic baths that one could try.

"Yes! And I'm inviting Haru-chan and Mako-chan to come with me...and Rei-chan!"

"Whoaaaa!"

Haru sat down, sighing and holding his cheek in his hand. "How do you know I want to go?"

"Of course you do, Haru!"

"Please, Haru-chan! We have to go! I've never been there, and you love baths," he leaned forward, clinging on to Haru's arm, looking up at him with big, convincing green eyes. "Ah, I suppose I have to ask my parents," Makoto added, as an afterthought, "but I really do hope they say yes! Nagisa-chan, thank you so much for inviting me!" He bowed deeply, hands tightening in his lap.

"You're welcome, Mako-chan! There's no one I'd rather bring!"

Suddenly, the thought of Makoto in a yukata hit him. "Only if Makoto can come."


	4. Onsen

"Before it gets too cold, I want to take you down to the ocean."

Makoto frowned, shifting his weight from foot to foot, stuffing his hands in his shorts' pockets. "Why?"

"I really like it there. It clears my head."

"What's better: _chlorine_ or _salt _in your mouth?" Makoto laughed, trying to avoid the topic of visiting the beach.

"Shut it," he ruffled his hair roughly with his hand, getting up and checking on the rice.

"B-But, you know, we don't _have_ to go to the beach! We're going to the onsen theme park! There will be _plenty_ of water there, right?"

"It's not the same. I really can't stand the heat." He put the top back on the cooker and sat down at the table once more, looking a bit tired. "I said I'd only go if you were going."

Makoto toyed with the plastic beads of his new bracelet, still trying to change the subject. "Haru-chan, what's high school like?"

"It's too much effort."

"You seem bored with a lot of stuff."

"I am."

"Why?" The boy looked genuinely puzzled.

Haruka sighed. "When you get older, things get less interesting."

"Really? But I feel like, the older I get, the more excitement I find in things!"

"You're a nerd."

Makoto smiled, looking down at the bracelet. "Do you think...we'll be together for a long time, Haru-chan?"

"Mm."

"I'm glad."

The teen blushed a little at those words, looking away, over at the bulletin board. He had asked Rin that same question, just a few years ago. Rin had said yes, but thinking back, he probably had already decided to go to Australia. He most likely had just said that because he thought that was what Haru would want hear. He closed his eyes: it hurt, yet, he was used to it, by now. He opened them again, exhaling through his nose and shifting his gaze from the picture to the kitchen. Getting up, he went to check on the rice again.

"It's done."

* * *

"Let _me_ sit next to Nanase-kun!"

"But I got here first," Makoto protested. He was pretty annoyed that Rei wanted to sit next to Haruka and not Nagisa, and considering he had to give first dibs for almost everything to his little siblings, he figured he deserved to get what he wanted, just once.

"We boarded the Shinkansen at the _same time_!"

"But I got here_ first_!"

"You can sit next to me, Rei-chan," Nagisa smiled, patting the empty spot next to him, just trying to get him to quiet down, as many people were starting to give them dirty looks already. Rei scoffed, pushing his glasses up his nose and plopped down next to Nagisa.

Makoto felt guilty, but he was the one to sit next to Haruka first. Finders keepers, right? He watched as Haruka pulled out his notebook and a pencil and started scrawling foreign letters. He leaned over to try and read them. "Are you writing in English," he asked, quietly.

"I'm trying."

"What's it for?"

"English class."

Nagisa peeked over the seat at the notebook. "Ah, that looks hard."

"Mm."

"_Waaahhh_, I should have brought my summer homework..."

"You haven't finished it yet?" Makoto gasped, turning around in his seat to look back at him.

Nagisa sighed. "Not yet."

"I'm _bored_," whined Rei. "Why didn't you bring your homework? I wanna do it."

Now Makoto was really confused: _Rei-chan_ did Nagisa-chan's homework?

The blonde teen's cheeks went a bit red and he laughed nervously, turning back around in his seat. "Sorry, Rei-chan."

He looked at Haruka for answers, but he was already deep into the world of English essays and probably couldn't answer even if he had asked.

* * *

"We made it!" Nagisa cried happily, running out of the hotel lobby towards Yunessun, having dropped off their bags in their room, which held nothing but a change of clothes and a lifeguard's salary.

Haruka looked at the pamphlet, following after him. "_Deep sea_ bath...?" he said, interested piqued almost instantly.

"Yes! There are baths of every kind here! Let's go, Haru-chan!"

They went around and tried almost every bath. It wasn't really as fun as all the advertisements and hype Makoto had heard about it, as it was more of an adult activity, but Haru seemed to be enjoying himself, and that's what made him very happy.

"Deep sea bath. _Now_."

It seemed like Nagisa was saving the best for last. It probably had been keeping Haruka on edge the entire day.

"Haha! Alright, alright!" Nagisa dragged Haruka towards the deep sea bath, which was next to the family pool.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves," Rei sighed, sitting on the edge of the crisp pool. He didn't seem to be having a good time.

Makoto looked at the little children playing on the other side. He wanted to mention to Rei that they should go over there if he wanted to swim, but swallowed his fears as he joined him, dangling his feet into the water of the deep-end. "At least they're having fun," he smiled. "I think Nagisa-chan and Haru-chan are good friends."

"You think? Nanase-kun seems sort of mean to him."

"It can't be helped. I can tell, though, he cares a lot for Nagisa-chan."

Rei looked over at Makoto. "How do you feel about me, Mako-chan?"

Green eyes darted away from the purple, toying with his dolphin bracelet. "Well, it hurts my feelings when you like Haru-chan, because he's _my_ boyfriend."

Rei frowned, kicking the water a little with his right foot. "I didn't know that he was," he paused, then said, quietly, "I'm sorry, Mako-chan." He hugged him. Makoto hugged back.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it."

He pulled away and sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose, cheeks a bit red. "But sometimes I feel lonely."

"Why? Nagisa-chan cares a lot about you."

"I like Nagisa-chan, but he just isn't _beautiful_ like Nanase-kun.."

"Eh?"

"When I saw Nanase-kun swim, it was so beautiful..."

Makoto agreed, Haru was very pretty when swimming: still, that didn't give Rei an excuse to forget about Nagisa. "But Nagisa-chan can be beautiful in his own ways!"

"I don't understand?" It was Rei's turn to be confused.

"Haru-chan may be beautiful when he swims, but when he shows his feelings, he is not so beautiful. He is sort of mean, and often blunt. But Nagisa-chan is always so happy, and he brings a smile to everyone's face. Maybe Nagisa-chan isn't the best swimmer, but he is the best at making everyone happy, including you, Rei-chan, and I think that makes him _very_ beautiful."

Realization hit Rei as his glasses slipped down his nose again, purple eyes wide with wonder as he stared at their reflection in the pool beneath them. "Y-You're right, Mako-chan...ah! I-I have to tell Nagisa-chan!" But he stood up too quickly, and he slipped on the wet edging, falling into the pool with a crash.

Makoto blinked, and then froze as he saw the water stilling around the area. He looked to the left, he looked to the right. Everyone was acting like nothing had happened. People were smiling, ladies were blushing, men were flirting, and the children on the other end of the pool were laughing. His breath picked up as his eyes scanned desperately for a lifeguard..._there_, he saw one, the guy in a red tanktop, but he was talking to a young lady, much too busy to have even noticed the situation. He wanted to cry out to them, to scream to them, or to even jump in and grab Rei. But if he did, what if he ended up just like Rei?

_ 'What if the monster existed in pools, too?', _he thought, horror-stricken with the idea.

"Rei-chan!"

Makoto turned around in time to see Nagisa throw off his hoodie and jump into the pool with a large splash, surfacing seconds later with Rei, who, rather than alert and gasping for air, was just barely breathing.

His heart stopped. The world dimmed around him, and suddenly, all he could see was Rei, laying limp on the poolside, glasses askew, and he heard Nagisa muttering his name over and over, as he started to press on his chest.

How could the people around not notice? How could they not see? How could they not care? _Were people really that heartless_? He felt a hand wrap around his and he could only imagine that it was Haruka's: no one else's could be so warm and firm.

The boy's fingers twitched, and then he heaved up, eyes shooting open with a gasp, and the spotlight faded away, light and color pouring back into Makoto's vision.

"Rei-chan! _Rei-chan_!" Nagisa sobbed, pulling him into his arms and hugging him almost too tight.

"G-gu-guh..." He pushed him away with his little hands, leaning to the side and coughing up some water before clearing his throat and looking up at the three of them with very confused eyes. "N-Nanase-kun...saved me?"

Haruka nodded no.

"It was Nagisa-chan who saved you," Makoto said, holding on to Haruka's hand tight. His heart was still racing from the ordeal, tears rolling down his cheeks out of concern.

"N-Nagisa-chan..." Rei's violet eyes teared up, and then he hugged the teenager tight, starting to bawl.

"R-Rei-chan...Rei-chan,_ I was so scared_..."

Makoto looked up at Haruka, who was just staring at them with almost a bored expression. "Don't worry people like that," he pulled his hand from Makoto's, "you're too much effort." He turned his back to them and started walking away.

Rei cried harder, and Nagisa picked him up in his arms, letting him latch on to his neck. He nuzzled his nose into his hair, whispering something to him that Makoto couldn't hear.

He turned away from the couple, rubbing his wet eyes with his trembling hand, feeling a bit awkward as he watched Haruka walking further and further away, no hesitation in his step whatsoever. Was this his way of saying that he was scared for Rei, and cared about him, or was he legitimately annoyed by the childish behavior?

"Ha-Haru!" He ran after him. He couldn't leave his side, not now, not when he was shaking, his heart refusing to slow down its hurried thumping, and eyes blurry with tears.

Haruka didn't stop but reduced his speed considerably until Makoto caught up.

"L-Let me..come with you..."

"Why are you crying?"

"I...I'm upset!" Makoto frowned, catching his breath as he finally walked next to Haruka, still having to take quick strides to make up for Haru's long ones. "Rei-chan almost just drowned! And Haru didn't do anything!"

"I didn't have to. Nagisa did."

"But, Haru! The way you _acted_!"

"Don't cry."

Makoto sniffed, wiping his eyes once more and sniffing. "I'm sorry." He didn't really know what he was apologizing for, but if it would calm the situation, he'd say whatever he had to.

It was times like this when Makoto was really confused about Haruka. He could be so warm and cuddly, making Makoto's heart melt, but other times, he almost felt like it was a burden to keep Haruka's emotions at bay, and his temper in check. In a way, Makoto was caring for Haru. Maybe he never had anyone to open up to him, like that? Come to think about it, he didn't even live with his parents.

Makoto sighed. _'Haru-chan has a really hard life and he never complains', _he thought. He looked up at his teenaged boyfriend, who was looking steadily ahead, with those same, dull blue eyes. Makoto wondered when he could see them shimmer again.

They crossed a bridge and arrived at the hotel area, which was traditional Japanese style. There was a large water fountain with some coins shimmering in the bottom, bouncing off the light of the setting sun.

Haruka sat on the edge, looking into the water. Makoto joined him.

"Have you ever heard of _Jikininki_?"

Makoto shook his head, trembling a bit. It was starting to get chilly, and he was only in his swimsuit. Haruka didn't seem to mind, though Makoto was a bit worried they may get ill.

"They're spirits of people whose greed prevent them from passing."

Makoto's brows furrowed, and he started to feel goosebumps raise on his skin, stomach sinking. He wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or the story. He hated myths like that.

Haruka hardly seemed to notice. "They eat other dead people."

A shiver went down his spine and he could feel his face going pale.

"So people drop coins in here to subdue them from eating loved ones that are trying to pass over." Haru's eyes trembled a little and Makoto was entranced: his light lips were just slightly parted, revealing only a bit of his white teeth beneath, his blue eyes reflecting the sparkling water, brows relaxed and comfortable, shoulders back. He looked so relaxed, and really beautiful.

It was obvious he wanted to drop coins in.

"I-I'll go to the room! I'll go get some coins!"

Haruka didn't look at him, but nodded slightly. Makoto jumped up and raced into the hotel, feeling a bit indecent wearing only his swimsuit, but figuring Haru's happiness was worth it.

It took him awhile to find the room, but when he did, he saw that it was already slightly opened. He peeked in the corner, a bit afraid of what he may find inside, the thoughts of Jikininki still in his head.

It was Nagisa and Rei, but they...

Makoto's curious eyes widened as he watched the scene unfold in front of him, clutching on to the edge of the sliding door. He couldn't believe what he was witnessing!

Nagisa stood feet on either side of Rei's body, shrugging off his hoodie and slowly peeling his swimming trunks off, kicking them to the side, revealing his body. He was small in stature, but still quite muscular, and somehow, he pulled off the look very well. He also seemed to not be lacking in _that_ area, either...

The indecent brunette's cheeks went red, covering his mouth with his free hand, feeling about to have a nosebleed.

"B-beautiful..." Rei muttered, staring up at Nagisa, who gave him a warm smile as he crawled on top of him..

"No, _you_ are," the blonde giggled, pulling his little speedo off, letting his hand roam the pale, agile skin of his chest, finding a nipple and leaning down, circling it once, twice, with his tongue, eliciting an excited gasp from the boy, then wrapping his mouth around it, with such love and care, suckling at it until Rei was a moaning puddle of pleasure, small cock almost completely hard. It was all happening so fast.

Makoto whimpered, feeling very guilty for watching. He really didn't know what to do: if he left the door open and just went on his way, someone else might find them, someone who wouldn't be afraid to throw the door open and cause some trouble about it. But if he closed the door, they might hear, and know that he, or someone, was watching, anyway. So what should he do?

Nagisa gave the same treatment to the other pink bud, then licked down Rei's thin belly, passed the forming muscles of his abdomen, and on to the hardening cock.

"N-Nagisa-chan...w-what are you doing?"

It seemed Rei-chan wasn't familiar with this sort of act. Makoto's cheeks only blushed harder at the thought that he was an absolute beginner, watching as the older teen took the hardening appendage into his mouth, and Rei threw his head back, crying out Nagisa's name.

He squeezed his eyes shut. He had no choice: there was no way he could let anyone else hear this! He slammed the door shut and ran down the hallway, hoping that they were too preoccupied with their lovemaking that they didn't even notice. He stopped only when he saw something shimmer on the wood floor. He looked around, seeing no one else, and picked it up. It was a hundred yen coin!

"Perfect," Makoto grinned, clutching it in his fist and running down the hall again, eager to get back to Haru.

Suddenly he bumped into something bigger than him, falling backward with a groan. He looked up to see Haruka kneeling down, a hand outstretched.

"Makoto...what were you thinking, running down the hallway like that? I was going to come look for you. You've been gone for-"

"Na-Nagisa..and...were...Rei-chan...and...!"

Haruka clicked his tongue and shook his hand at him, as if to say, 'just take it already'. Makoto did, still clutching on to the coin with his left hand, letting him pull him back up to his feet. "Did you get the money?"

"Well, I-"

He sighed, closing his eyes, obviously a bit annoyed with him. "It's fine, I'll get it. Stay here."

"No!" Makoto grabbed on to his wrist. "You can't go back there! They're..._doing_ stuff!"

"Hmph. Too bad."

"_Haru-chan_!" He pulled with all his might, trying to make Haru stay still, feet sliding as he struggled against him. "I found a hundred yen coin!"

He sighed. "Why didn't you just say so?" Makoto wasn't going to argue. He just smiled as he handed him the coin. "Let's go, then."

They walked back to the fountain at the entrance of the hotel, and Haruka hesitated, before taking Makoto's hand and dropping the coin in his palm.

"H-Huh? Haru-chan...didn't you want to put this in with honor of-"

"You have someone you have lost, don't you, Mako-chan?"

His brows, upturned already, furrowed even closer together as he thought about his goldfish. His tongue swept across his dry lips, then clutched the coin in his hands. "Still..."

"You found this coin, Mako-chan. You were meant to be the one to toss it in."

Taking a deep breath, he looked up at the teen, who nodded in approval. He let the breath out and tossed it into the fountain, watching it splash, and then sink in with the many other coins.

They were quiet, and they must have spent quite awhile just looking at the fountain.

In the end, they took turns taking care of each other. It was like a real partnership, with proportional give and take. Was this what it was like to have friends? Or did he only feel this way because of something greater?

He smiled. Either way, it didn't matter. The way they were right now, it was perfect. "Thank you, Haru-chan."

* * *

It was dark, and getting really cold out, so he was relieved when they reached their bath, all hot and steaming, waiting ready for them, outside their bedroom. Hopefully Nagisa and Rei weren't still at it: the only separation between the patio with the bath and the room was a thin sliding door.

Haruka stripped swiftly and slipped into the small, round bath. Makoto smiled, feeling happy that Haruka had really wanted the alone time with him, taking off his bathing suit and using Haruka's hands to help him crawl into the steaming bath. "Ahhh, it feels so nice, Haru-chan!"

"Mm."

He relaxed for awhile, letting his head rest back on the edge of the tub, taking in the heat. The water constantly pouring into the bath gave a steady, peaceful sound, and it allowed his body, tense from all the adventure that day to loosen and ease up, though, once it did, his mind started to wander. "Haru, will you tell me more about you?"

"Like what?"

"Why does Haru-chan live alone," he asked, thinking back to his previous thoughts that day.

"Circumstances," he said, simply, then added, "I prefer talking about Mako-chan."

Makoto blushed, picking up some water in his hands and letting it fall back into the bath. "I'm nothing special," he admitted.

"No, you _are_ special," the teen reached out, grabbing his hands, and holding them in his, staring at him intently. Makoto looked back into his determined blue eyes, then smiled, embarrassed, looking away.

Ignoring what he had said, he questioned on, "Who was that in the photograph that you tore?"

"My ex." His hands slipped back down into the water.

He knew it. As if the competition with Rei hadn't been enough, now he had the redhead to worry about. Though, he didn't want to make Haruka uncomfortable, or trouble him any further, so he said, "It can't be helped," and sunk deeper into the heat, closing his eyes, trying to think about something else.

Haruka moved from the pouring water and closer to Makoto, rubbing his thigh slowly underneath the water. Makoto looked up, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. The teen groaned, leaning forward and kissing him rougher, pushing his tongue inside his mouth, before letting him lay with his back to his chest, and they just relaxed some more, then.

However, it wasn't long before their mouths met again, and more kissing took place. Makoto could feel him getting harder against his lower back, and it was getting him excited, too. "Haru-chan..."

"Just 'Haru'..."

"Why did you break up with him?"

"He broke up with me." He nipped at his earlobe, brushing his hair aside from his neck to get a better grasp on it with his lips as he moved down the slender nape. "We're done with this conversation," he added, and started to suck hard at different spots on his neck, gently kneading the forming muscles on his thighs as he made his mark on Makoto.

His breath hitched as he felt the warm lips brand him with his special mark, much more than just a little bruise: a sign to everyone who saw that said that he was solely Haruka's, and Haruka's alone. Makoto liked that thought very much.

"I'm going to make sure everyone knows you're mine," the teen whispered hotly against his neck, moving his hand up to his stomach, massaging gently as his mouth pressed down, planting butterfly kisses as far as he could reach in that position, and back up again, making sure to suck a little at each stop on the way up, closing his eyes and rellishing his little whale's tiny whimpers and moans.

But after awhile the pain overtook the pleasure and he whined a little, batting at Haru's arm playfully as he scooted away from him to the other side of the bath. "Let's go back in." He stood up, feeling his body starting to get pruny from bathing all day. He shook himself off and then shivered, running into the room, desperate for heat. Nagisa and Rei were in their yukatas, sitting on Nagisa's futon, opening a box.

"Mako-chan!"

Haru came up behind him, giving his hair a nice, wet shake.

"Oh! And Haru-chan! Just in time!" Nagisa pulled some sparklers out of the box.

Rei smiled. "I'm so excited!"

He looked tired, and Makoto's cheeks went red when he thought of why. He wondered how far they really went...

However, Nagisa was full of energy, as usual. "Let's go!" He got up, running out to the patio.

"Be careful," Haru warned, following him out and sitting next to him.

Makoto frowned. "I'm going to change into my yukata. It's too cold to be outside in a wet bathing suit."

Rei gave him a small smile and followed Nagisa and Haruka out the door, joining them on the patio. "We won't get in trouble, right?"

"Nah." Nagisa lit the first one and laughed, while Rei stared at it in amazement.

"_B-Beautiful_," he cried, "let me have one, please!"

The blonde smiled, handing him the one he had just lit.

Makoto opened the door and sat next to Haruka. "You're gonna get sick if you're out here in your wet swimsuit!" But the teen just ignored him and took a newly lit sparkler from Nagisa, staring at it.

"Let's see whose will run out first!" Nagisa handed one to Makoto, and then lit one for himself.

It was pretty intriguing watching the sparks fly off the sparkler, and like Rei had said, it was quite beautiful, but it was also sort of scary once it started burning closer to Makoto's hand. He got up, throwing it in the bath.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Nagisa frowned.

"Oh! Mine burnt out!" Rei pouted, tossing it on the deck carelessly.

"Mine too," Haruka sighed, looking at Nagisa.

"_Ah_! I'm the winner!" He smiled.

"Maybe it's because you lit yours last."

"Oh, stop ruining all the fun, Haru-chan!"

Makoto moved back over to his boyfriend, pouting and yanking on his arm. "Come on, it's _cold_ out and you're _wet_."

Rei yawned. "And I'm _sleepy_!"

Nagisa sighed. "I guess it's time for bed, then."

* * *

Makoto sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. It was brighter than expected: he must have slept in pretty late. He noticed Rei and Nagisa's futons were both empty, as well as...

"Morning," Haru smiled, sitting down on Makoto's futon and kissing him.

"Mm!" Surprised, he kissed back, grabbing on to Haruka's hand as they made out, and the teen slowly pressed him back down on his back, putting his hands on either side and leaning down to assault his mouth with his tongue.

His dark hair hung in his face, and it still smelled like chlorine, despite his many baths. '_Maybe that smell was permanent'_, Makoto thought. He smiled. That was a silly idea. Yet..."Where are they?"

"Breakfast." Haru's hands peeled away the yukata, revealing his chest, just as Nagisa had done to Rei. Makoto's cheeks turned red, remembering the thought, his voice catching in his throat when Haru started to kiss his nipple the same way he had kissed his mouth. He had never felt that feeling very and it definitely felt a lot better than imagined. Soft kisses lead from one side to the next, giving an equal treatment to both small buds before moving down between his legs, bunching the fabric up at his stomach.

He tried to protest, but nothing would come out except little quiet whimpers and groans, as he watched the lifeguard fondle the growing bulge in his green boxer-briefs while embracing the inside of his thigh with his warm tongue. What if Nagisa and Rei returned? Who knows how long they'd be out for?

But Haruka knew just how to distract him from the worrisome thoughts, sliding the underwear down and taking his cock into his mouth, bobbing his head up and down slowly and deliberately. He started making obscene noises, and Makoto whimpered, whispering, "feels good", almost against his will, as he'd much rather say, _'what if they come back_?'.

When Makoto was almost at his edge, Haruka pulled away, swiftly shedding his own yukata. "Are you almost finished?"

"Y-yes," Makoto admitted, a bit shameful that he couldn't last longer. They had only just started touching..."Let me try something with you, though."

The teen licked his lips, watching as the eleven-year-old took the initiative and straddled his waist, letting his hands stretch and grab at as much of Haru's pectorals as he could, massaging the pliable flesh, groaning softly at its density and resilience. "I like this," he panted, feeling himself, if possible, get harder yet.

"Plenty for you to touch," Haru muttered, leaning back on his elbows and watching Makoto explore his older, muscular body, groping and kissing each muscle in his upper chest. Soon, however, just watching wasn't good enough. He sighed in pleasure, rubbing his own very hard cock, and then pulling him into a sitting position, their legs wrapping around eachother's waists in an intimate way. The boy let out a whimper as he felt his smaller appendage brush against Haruka's strong, longer one, and a moan when he took them both in his hand, pumping them in time with vigor.

He never lasted long with his little whale: he was too beautiful, too perfect, too sexy to hold off. He had never felt that way with Rin: it had always been a bit of a struggle to get to his climax. Maybe it was because he enjoyed being dominant for once, or then again, maybe he had just changed. He wasn't sure. "O-Oh..._Makoto_..."

"Ha-Haru," he whimpered, hesitantly wrapping his arms around his neck and stretching forward to reach his lips, kissing him as he felt his climax overtake him, closing his eyes and enjoying Haruka's panting, and hitch of breath as he came as well, his cock pulsing against his in an enticing way.

He rested his head on his shoulder for a few minutes, just catching his breath along with Haru, starting to feel very dirty for what they had just done, both literally and figuratively.

"Mm," Haru grunted, gently pushing Makoto away and standing up, stretching and yawning. He scratched his belly lazily and Makoto frowned, wondering how he could act so nonchalant after what had just happened: still, Haru was like that. He chuckled to himself, finding it amusing. "What?"

"Haru-chan just makes me smile!"

The teen scoffed, grabbing the nearby box of tissues (probably used by Nagisa and Rei after _their _little 'encounter'), using it to wipe both himself and Makoto up.

"Huh? What are you doing? I thought we were going to bathe!"

"No time. We have to get dressed, check-out is soon."

Makoto frowned, watching as Haruka tossed the tissues into the trash, and then grabbed another to blow his nose. "The floor was drafty last night, wasn't it?"

* * *

"I had a great time, Haru-chan!"

"Thank you for inviting us," Haru bowed lazily, and Makoto quickly followed suit.

"I had fun, Mako-chan, and Nanase-kun...I hope we can do something again together, soon!"

"You too, Rei-chan. I'm glad you're okay." Makoto hugged him, and Rei smiled, hugging back.

They said their goodbyes and Makoto returned back to his home, greeted by many hugs and kisses, but a bit sad that summer was coming to a close. There was only three more days left...somehow, returning to school after these adventures with Haruka and his friends seemed very dull.

Luckily, he still had the swim club. Though, when he arrived...

"I'm not in the mood...a-_achoo_!" Haruka sneezed into his elbow, wiping his red nose and looking down at Makoto. Although he had wore his bathing suit underneath his clothes like Haruka had requested, he didn't want to undress him...

"I _knew _you'd get sick!"

"It's nothing." He looked away, a bit of a stubborn expression on his face, and climbed back up into his lifeguard's chair. Makoto frowned, sitting at one of the tables near the poolside, fully clothed in a light sweater and shorts, watching his boyfriend from a distance. Still, he couldn't catch his eye, no matter how much he tried, and it annoyed him to no end!

Eventually, the activity in the pool died down, and closing time came as it always did. Makoto's mother came in a bit earlier than usual, just as Haruka was climbing down from his chair, ready to do his clean-up duties.

"Kaa-san!" Makoto went running over to her, taking her hand and looking up at her with wide eyes, slightly nervous. "Haru-chan is sick, and he lives all by myself and has no one to take care of him! _Please_, let him stay the night!"

Haruka looked a bit shocked, and was about to protest, when his mother finally answered, a bit winded, cheeks turning a bit red. "W-well, we don't have a-"

"He can sleep in my room! Please, Kaa-san! _Please_?"

"A-ah...well...of course! Nanase-san, we would be happy to have you over then."

Haruka sniffed, then bowed deeply. "Sorry for the trouble. Thank you."


	5. Sick, But Hardly

"And this...and you'll _need _this, too.."

"I'm just staying the night."

"Well, better be safe than sorry!" Makoto stood on his tip-toes, grabbing a bottle of lube from the very top of the shelf in the bathroom, grinning. "We may need this too, Haru-chan."

"You're growing so fast...at least six centimeters, since the beginning of summer."

Makoto blushed, scratching his cheek as he tossed the bottle into the gym bag Haru was taking along. "My dad is very tall, so..."

Haruka stood, hovering his hand above Makoto's head, which landed around his collarbone. "About thirty more centimeters."

"Hmph!" Being bigger than children his age sort of made Makoto feel self-conscious of himself. He had always been the tallest, and on top of having a girly name, it was the perfect grounds for being picked on. Not like he let that bother him, but it was something he gave quite a bit of thought to.

He never felt like being tall suited him.

"I wouldn't mind if you outgrew me," Haruka stated, grabbing his attention again, by letting one of his hands tangle in Makoto's hair, looking straight down at him.

Makoto blushed, looking up at him, swallowing hard. "R-really?"

Haruka nodded. And he really didn't. In fact, the idea of Makoto, though younger than him, outgrowing him, really pleased him for some reason. It was unusual, and really cute. He planted a kiss on his forehead, through his brown hair, and pulled away, using his hand to cover another sneeze as he walked out of the bathroom to his bedroom where he'd pick what clothes he would wear for pajamas. He had never really cared at all what he wore, but now that he was with Makoto, he thought about it a lot. He wondered if Makoto thought about that, too...but probably not. Still, he always dressed so cutely.

The teen frowned, shifting weight from foot to foot as he stared at his shirts.

Makoto popped up behind him and pulled out a striped blue and white tanktop. "Can Haru-chan wear this?"

He nodded, grabbing it from him gently and tossing it in the bag that Makoto had brought back into the room. He then picked a pair of light blue boxers and put them in the bag, zipping it up. "That's it."

"You know how to get to my house, right?" Makoto hovered at his side, his hands clinging to Haru's.

"It's at the bottom of the steps."

"Yep! See you then, Haru-chan!" Makoto smiled, pulling away and waving as he ran to the door, but Haruka stopped him before he could leave, kneeling down with his hands grasping back on to his.

"You think you can leave without a kiss?" he said playfully, closing his eyes and kissing his lips gently, no tongue.

"Sorry." Makoto giggled.

* * *

Haruka appeared at the Tachibana's door with his gym bag wrapped around his lithe body, his nose, by now, bright red and pretty sore.

Makoto ran to the door right after he rang the bell, pulling it open and giving Haruka a great big smile as he let him come inside. "Welcome home!"

Haru smiled back, toeing off his shoes. Having Makoto run to the door to greet him with such a look on his face, and saying 'welcome home' so warmly made his imagination run wild, thinking about not-too-far in the future where he and a teenage Makoto could have an apartment, or even a house together. He wasn't sure who would be the "bread winner" of the family, and although he really enjoyed doing domestic chores, having his little orca greet him like this upon returning home after a long day of work really sounded nice.

His smile faded as he was shook back to reality when Makoto's mother and father greeted him as well, bowing politely. He bowed back, feeling quite awkward. '_First, I have to win the parents over_,' he thought.

Blue eyes wandered over the room before they fell on two small children, surely Makoto's younger siblings, hiding behind the corner, peeking at him with a questioning look. He waved. They blushed, and quickly hid themselves away. Makoto turned around and frowned, putting his hands on his hips. "Ren! Ran! Come out!"

Hesitantly, the twins padded out and stopped at Makoto's side. Ran, the little girl, grabbed on to Makoto's hand and clutched it for dear life, while the boy, Ren, suddenly jumped on Haruka, who was quite taken a-back.

"H-Hey! I didn't even introduce you, yet!"

"That's okay," the teen muttered, a bit shocked as he wrapped his arm around Ren to support his bum, allowing the child to wrap his arms around his neck loosely.

"Oto-san...Ren...Ran...this is Nanase Haruka."

"Nice to meet you," his father bowed again, and Haruka couldn't help but blush a bit more, sniffing up some dribbling snot as he patted Ren's back, leaning over to put him back down so he could wipe his nose. Tachibana-san was quite handsome, and very tall: Haruka could see now where Makoto got his size from, though, it only made him yearn to be grown up with Makoto once more, imagining their life together, happy and married...if that's what Makoto would want. He'd have to ask him about it some time, now it was really piquing his interest.

"Nice to meet you, too."

"I've heard a lot about you!"

Haruka looked at Makoto, who blushed a bit, shrugging, trying to coax Ran off him gently.

"D-Do...you have tissues?" he sniffed again, closing his eyes, sneezing into his arm.

* * *

"This is my room!"

It was pretty tight, with not much room to walk at all, though next to the bed in the small walkway was a television with a game system hooked up to it. At the head of the bed there was a lamp, and a small shelf, where a pair of glasses sat, neatly folded. Haruka picked them up and looked at them.

"I wear glasses at home," Makoto admitted, shyly, scratching the back of his head. Haruka looked at him, and then handed them to him. He put them on, cheeks turning redder. "I don't really like them, I dunno..."

"I think they look great." Haruka looked around the room a bit more, until he saw something sticking out from underneath the bed. He paused, then knelt down next to it and pulled it out. "What's this...?"

"N-no!" Makoto's whole face turned red and he ran over to Haru, clutching on to his shirt, trying to pull him away to no avail, as he had already pulled out a yaoi manga. He frowned, reaching under the bed, and yanking out a few more. Makoto was literally in tears. "P-Please! Don't look!"

"Where did you get these?"

He sniffed, eyes watering. He felt humiliated. Haruka just stared at him. "P-Put t-them..b-back...please, Haru-chan!"

The teen sneezed, wiped his nose with the back of his hand and crawled up on to the bed, starting to page through one.

Makoto crawled next to him, tears falling down his very red cheeks. "Ha-Haru-chan..."

"Don't cry." He thrust some clean tissues that were laying on the bed from before at him, continuing to look at the manga, which contained a young looking boy playing with himself in thoughts to an older man. He wanted to smile, but refrained from it: though, he understood now why Makoto had these. They were probably what had introduced him to such things in the first place. Well, he was a bit grateful to them for that.

The boy dabbed his eyes with the tissues and threw them aside.

"You're not so innocent."

"S-So what..." he mumbled, really feeling bad. He thought no one would ever find those: he had tricked his grandmother into purchasing them for him while she was completely distracted by the twins about a year ago, and since then, he had been reading them, fantasizing about it being him and Haruka, despite if it was a bit farfetched. For a long time, it was all he had. Now that he had the actual Haruka in front of him willing to do almost anything, he didn't have much use for them. "Does Haru read these?"

"No." He set it back down.

Makoto felt beyond embarrassed, pushing his glasses up his nose and pulling on Haru's arm, eager to distract him with something, or someone (his siblings) to make him forget about what he had just seen. Haru reluctantly kicked it back under the bed and followed him back out, letting him give a small tour around the house, showing the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, and lastly, his siblings' room. They were currently sitting on the floor, coloring in coloring sheets, Ren, an intricate pattern of no particular sort and, Ran, a temple.

Haru stretched out on the floor next to them, looking surprisingly comfortable to Makoto's surprise. He sat next to him, crosslegged, and grabbed one coloring book from the pile of many that sat between his little brother and sister, flipping through it to find something worth coloring (preferably, a picture he could give to Haru when he was done). Haruka grabbed one as well, and seemed to turn right to an oceanscape and then picked three different shades of blue marker, and a grey, then started to color.

Ren paused his work, looking over at Haru. "So many colors for just the water?"

"Haru's really good at coloring!" Makoto piped in, proud to brag about his boyfriend.

Ren raised his thin eyebrows high, as if he couldn't believe anyone would ever need three shades of blue to color one thing, then looked over to where Makoto was coloring in a kitten.

"Hahaha! Onii-chan is bad at this!" he laughed, pointing at the areas where Makoto had already gone quite outside the lines.

"He is not," gasped Ran, who seemed to be in denial that her older brother could possibly be bad at anything, until she looked at his coloring and honestly couldn't deny the fact. Taking advantage of her distraction, Ren grabbed her green marker and started using it. Once she had realized it was gone, tears formed in her eyes. "O-_Onii-chan!_ Ren took my marker!"

Makoto hesitated, then smiled warmly and handed her the green marker he had been using to color the rug that the cat was sitting on in his picture. "Everything's okay. You can use mine." Haru looked up, watching as Ran took the marker with watery eyes, sniffed, and continued to color the trees in her picture.

Everyone was quiet again, except for Ren's happy humming as he colored, until everyone was finished. Each person took turns holding up their coloring. When it came time for Haru to hold up his, all three Tachibanas gasped, crowding around him.

"Haru-chan, it's so good!"

"Whoaa!"

"I didn't know markers could turn out so pretty!"

Haru just set his picture down again and waited for Makoto to show his.

Worrying nervously at his lip, Makoto slowly held his coloring of the cat up. "I did this one because...Haru has cats by his house...and they remind me of him. So...here, Haru-chan!" He thrust the picture into Haru's hands, who took it, happy that Makoto had gifted him something, replying with a sniff of his nose, hoping that Makoto understood how glad it made him, since he couldn't kiss him here.

Ren's face went red and he tore his coloring out of the book and handed it to Haru, as well. "P-Please! Take it! It's...for Haru-chan, too!"

"Mine too!" Ran also removed hers from the book and put it in his lap.

He smiled at them. Well, now he had to say something. "Thank you."

* * *

"I've read zosui is good for the sick, and we had some leftover rice, so I do hope you enjoy it!" Makoto's mom smiled, place a small bowl of the soup in front of Haruka, and then her husband, followed by the three children.

"Thank you for the meal," Haruka muttered along with everyone else, putting his hands together, closing his eyes temporarily in prayer, and then starting to eat the soup. Honestly, he would have preferred mackerel, or really any sort of fish dish, but this would have to do. He was a guest at their house, after all, and it would have been very rude to cook his own meal. Though, thinking about it, it couldn't hurt to maybe bring some food over to their house once in awhile as a gift: was food the way to their hearts? He didn't really know, but he sure hoped so: that would be an easy way to get them to trust him more.

He blushed a bit, wiping his sore nose. He shouldn't be thinking about such things.

Makoto's mother hovered around the table, getting anyone anything upon request. She leaned over Haruka, reaching to refill his cup of tea, but spotted his whale bracelet that Makoto had made him. "Ah! I see you have a similar bracelet to Makoto!"

"We made them at Haru's house!" Makoto smiled, feeling proud of the symbol of their relationship that, unlike the hickeys, he could show off to the world.

"That's very nice," his mother smiled at Haru, who just looked down at the rice soup, blushing a little more than before. Why was it that the little things got to him like this? Well, at least he could blame it on the cold...

* * *

"Before we go to bed, we have to do something." Makoto grabbed Haru's hand, and lead him to the living room, where he picked up some flowers that had been laying next to an empty goldfish bowl, and headed out the door, taking him to a small landscape area outside their home, a lone rock sitting on the grass, with a jar of water next to it.

"What is this?"

"It's...a grave," Makoto bowed his head, glasses slipping slightly down his nose.

"A grave? For who?"

"Well...my goldfish."

Haruka was quiet, as he watched the boy kneel down and put the fresh flowers in the jar of water that was next to the grave. He didn't speak for a long time, and they both just listened to the peace of the late afternoon in Iwatobi, Haruka's awkward sniffling, and the sound of the ocean in the far distance, until Makoto finally muttered, "Haru, how can the water be so unforgiving?"

He just stood there. He didn't have answers for Makoto, as much as he wanted to.

"I gave them food, and talked to them, and played with them all the time! They seemed so happy, but they still got sick! The_ water _made them sick, Haru!" He sobbed, clinging to Haru's shirt, making it quite wet with his tears, which didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. "_Why_?"

Haruka sighed, kneeling down and grabbing on to Makoto's shoulders. "There is someone I miss very much, too, Makoto. She didn't deserve to die, either..." Haruka paused, quickly reviewing what he wanted to say in his head, making sure it was appropriate, hoping it would help or comfort Makoto in some way, "...but sometimes, it's just their time. You may not know why it happened now, but someday, you will, Makoto. And I will, too."

Makoto threw his arms around him, bawling. Haruka rubbed his back, brows furrowed: the way Makoto had spoke about the water, it was if he despised it. Was the passion he had seen from Makoto all this time, not love for water, but hatred? Either way, something about it was extremely compelling to the teenager.

He thought, for awhile, before asking, "Are you scared of the water, Makoto?"

He nodded.

"We won't go to the beach."

He nodded again, sobbing into his neck. Haru pet his head, letting him get out his frustration and sadness, until he heaved him up into his arms, one arm on his back, the other supporting his little bum, kissing his cheek. "Let's go inside."

* * *

Makoto desperately had wanted to join Haruka in the bath, or even the shower, but his little siblings wouldn't stop hovering around Haru, making it nearly impossible to do anything fun of the sort. Maybe they wouldn't make use of that lubricant, after all...

Haru came into his room, a towel loosely on his head, skin still a bit wet from the bath he had just taken. He was wearing the tanktop Mako had picked out for him, and his boxers. He sat on the bed, looking at Makoto as he dried his hair. The eleven-year-old was wearing a loose yellow t-shirt, and grey pajama shorts. He looked quite cute, but Haruka knew he'd look better with one of the two articles off!

He yawned, covering his mouth and laying down on his bed. After drying off, Haru flopped next to him, letting one hand rest on his stomach, the other above his head casually.

Makoto reached over, dropping off his glasses and turning the lamp above them on. It didn't really illuminate much of the room: it was just enough for him to read at night while in his bed...or, you know, be fooling around with a very sexy teenager with a proper view.

He crawled on top of Haruka, smiling, touching at his chest aimlessly, just staring at his face, waiting for those stoic blue eyes to twinkle as they so rarely did. He leaned down, kissing him. Haru kissed back, putting a hand on his lower back, rubbing very gently, as their tongues caressed in between their mouths, sweetly, gently, until eventually their mouths crashed back together and Makoto stuck his short tongue into Haru's mouth to explore it, very willingly. Haru's teeth were smooth and firm, the roof of his mouth a bit rough but curiously textured. He pulled away to catch his breath, wiping his mouth, where a bit of drool was forming.

The teen's hands moved to his lower back, toying at the edge of those shorts, wishing to see what was underneath. He was feeling quite inpatient tonight, and being in Makoto's own bed didn't exactly help. He decided he'd at least try something to get his mind off of sex, so he reached back down under his bed, pulling out one of the manga from before. Makoto's cheeks went red and he batted at the hand but to no avail. Making sure the boy was comfortable resting on his toned chest, he opened up the manga, paging through the first couple pages until it started getting interesting. It seemed to two brothers, sleeping in the same futon together. Haru hadn't really paid attention to the plot much, but that was all he really needed to know, anyway. The younger brother was currently touching himself, underneath the sheets and through his underwear.

This kind of stuff never really did it for Haru, but seeing Makoto squirm because of it was worth it. Seeing it made him want to touch himself just like the boy in the book, but with Haru there, he restrained, for the purpose of saving himself the embarrassment. Still, as Haru turned the page, each one intensifying, the masturbating turning into the older brother helping out with the act, a tent started growing in Mako's shorts and he whimpered, ashamed, looking at Haru's face to see if he had any reaction. He didn't: he had his same, bored expression as he mostly always had. He just kept turning the pages.

The whimpering turned into little groans as the boy in the manga was being stretched by his brother, first one finger, and then a second, and currently, a third. It was when he took out the elder's cock and started licking at it then Makoto gave in, turning to look at Haru again, bleating, "Can we please do something?"

Haru smiled a little, feeling quite amused. He was turned on so easily it was almost laughable at how cute it was. He set the manga aside, sliding the shorts down his legs and yanking them off, forcing Makoto up and switching positions with him, so that he was the one propped up by the pillow. He knelt over him, letting his hand continue its work through his little briefs, rubbing circles around where his hardening cock lay, though the bliss only lasted a few moments, as Haru then got up and grabbed his gym bag, rummaging through it, looking for the one thing he needed: the lube.

Once found, he pushed the manga completely off the small bed and on to the floor, crawling on top of Makoto once more, leaning in for a kiss as he coaxed the younger boy to take off his shirt. Now almost completely naked, and face very red with embarrassment at the only one being so, Mako protested a bit, clawing at Haru's arm with his short fingernails as he pulled away from the kiss, popping the top off of the lube.

With baited breath, he watched as Haruka let a long, cold string of lube drip from the tube down to his chest, and thrust his head back into the pillow as he started to rub it in to his skin, particularly, on to his nipples. It was cold but Haruka's hand was warm, and letting his fingers caress the small buds on his chest only made his body hotter.

He started letting the lube pour all over his smaller body, rubbing it in with more care than one would expect: though neither of them really gave much thought to what they were even doing (it was going to have consequences that couldn't be worried about), already so high on pleasure that almost nothing mattered but more contact.

The brunette whimpered as his dolphin particularly started abusing his crotch through his boxers, getting it so soaking wet through the thin fabric that they were almost pointless, adding to the pleasure by leaning forward and thrusting his tongue into his mouth, attacking it relentlessly.

It wasn't long before Haru handed Makoto the bottle, and let him return the favor. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it, so he squirted some in his hands and hesitantly pressed it on to Haruka: if he ruined his boxers, what would he sleep in? This thought worried Makoto for a grand total of about ten seconds, before he got distracted by the hardness he could feel on the other side of the boxers. He looked up at his lover for confirmation that what he was doing was good, and when he got a small nod, he continued on, until the teen shifted and got comfortable with his hands and knees on both sides of Makoto, pinning him indirectly to the bed.

And then he started thrusting, their cocks meeting between two very wet and slimy pieces of fabric. Needless to say, the friction felt both infuriating, and incredibly sensual. Haruka was getting harder and harder with each thrust forward, and his breath was starting to get heavy as he did, a sign to Makoto that what they were doing felt good.

Still, almost as if to purposely punish himself, Haruka pulled away, giving him one last peck before sitting back on his calves, rubbing the boy's cock again with his palm, in slow, deliberate circles. Even in the dim light, you could see the exact shape of it through the underwear, which was starting to almost get too inconvenient. tender hands met larger ones and he squeezed, as if to ask why Haruka wasn't going further.

The teen didn't answer, but he did flip him over on to his stomach, eliciting an excited yelp from Makoto, green eyes shutting as he felt himself get harder, if possible, now pressed up against the bedsheets, soaking them with his sticky body.

Haruka positioned himself above his ass, doing what he had done earlier, except this time, thrusting against his cheeks, though, the fact that it was _still _through the underwear was starting to get to Makoto, and he wondered why Haruka was so insistent on keeping them on. As if to read his mind, he said, "I like the heaviness of...the wet fabric...on my body."

Makoto understood, but that still didn't give Haru a right to leave him hanging like this!

Haru leaned forward, making more lovebites next to the ones he had made at Yunessun, this time more on his shoulder blades and the back of his neck. He wanted his marks all over Makoto's body.

Cheeks flushed and breath getting quite heavy, Makoto was almost already at his peak. "H-Haruka...I..I need to fi-finish...feels good..."

Honestly, he was a bit disappointed. They had only just started: though, he supposed Makoto had been getting hard way back when they were first looking at the manga. It just seemed like each opportunity they had was somehow cut off one way or another. Haru sighed, figuring there was nothing else to do but give him what he wanted, peeling the wet underwear down his legs just enough to loosen his cock, using his other hand to guide his chest upwards, so that his ass was arched high enough in the air so he could grasp his cock from behind, pumping it up and down at the perfect speed.

Makoto pressed his hands against his mouth, muffling his loud moans, afraid he was being too loud and would be heard.

"Cum on your bed for Haru," Haruka breathed into his ear, letting his free hand move up to his nipple, twisting and turning it until Makoto literally had to stuff his fist into his mouth, biting down hard to prevent his cries as he spurted all over his bedsheets, just like Haru had ordered him to.

Pleasing Makoto was enough. He pulled away and quickly pumped himself to completion, until his seed splattered on to the now very-soiled sheets of the bed. Not giving a crap, he crawled back to the head of the bed, and flopped down, closing his eyes and giving a small sneeze before wrapping his arm around Makoto and pulling him close to him. Makoto was very tuckered out, and though he was sweaty, and slimy from the excess amount of lube, and the sheets were damp and uncomfortable, he felt content resting on Haru's chest, anyway, and soon, he fell asleep to the slow rhythm of Haru's steadying breathing.

Haruka decided he would enjoy this time with Makoto. He wouldn't rush into things, and he didn't want to make him grow up too fast. How they were now was perfect, but somehow, it felt as if a part of him couldn't totally move on. The thought of Rin was still in the back of his head, no matter how hard he tried to push it away.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want breakfast, Nanase-san?"

"I couldn't. Thank you for all that you've done," he bowed, before opening the door and giving a small wave to Makoto, then leaving the house. He wanted to get out of there before the twins had woken up and attacked him: they probably wouldn't let him leave if they saw him trying. Haruka smiled to himself: they were cute, just like Makoto...just not_ as _cute. He had never thought about himself as a parent, or even a big brother, but being around Makoto's family made him consider the idea, and to be honest, it wasn't one he really rejected. In fact, the idea of raising a family with Makoto only made his heart tremble a bit with joy.

But, it was best not to go rushing in to things. Perhaps they'd start out with a cat, first.

* * *

The day crawled by. All there was to do was homework, and afterwards, Haruka spent hours just sitting on his bed, thinking. It was the night before school started back up again, but he couldn't focus on it at all. Not even a bath cleared his mind. He watched as his toes curled and uncurled, and wished more than anything that he could call Makoto, just to hear his voice, to hear him rant on and on about an anime or swimming or just even his current mood. _Anything_.

Sighing, Haru fell down on to his side, closing his eyes. If he couldn't be with Makoto, all he could do would be to imagine Makoto. He thought about him crawling into the bath, gasping, and jumping up a bit, saying, 'Haru, it's too hot!'. About himself, kneeling next to the bath tub, arms resting on the edge as he watched Makoto move a toy boat back in forth in the water, looking up at him, his cheeks slightly pink, green eyes warm and sparkling with joy. About leaning over, splashing his little whale in the face with water and getting drenched with a typhoon of hot water and revenge, soaking his face and upper body to the point where he had no choice but to get into the bath with him. They'd play with the toys more, and he'd give Makoto the childhood he never really had, having to always take care of two younger siblings. They'd throw the plastic balls he had put up his ass during their first encounter into the hoop attached to the wall with suction cups, and for each one Makoto got in, Haruka would give him a kiss as a reward.

His cock twitched in his shorts and he pressed down on it, trying to get it to soften up again, though it refused. He groaned. This was too much effort: he might as well just jerk off and get it over with, or it would bother him for the rest of the night.

Too bad his cell phone lit up a second later. He jumped up, grabbing it, eager for it to be Makoto, but frowned when he saw Nagisa's name instead. Hesitantly, he answered it.

"Hello."

"_Haruuuu-chaaaannn_! How was your last day of summer?"

"Fine."

"Ah! I had something really important to tell you, but I_...hmm_...I seem to have forgotten it already."

Haruka sighed, moving his finger to the 'end' button, but as if Nagisa could see his actions, he shouted, "DON'T!" He let his hand fall back down to his lap.

"This wasn't it, but...can I ask what you and Mako-chan have been up to?" Suddenly his tone had gone pretty serious.

"What about it?"

"Well, are you...'together'?" He had been wanting to ask that question for quite awhile now.

"Yeah."

The other line was silent for a minute, and then Nagisa spoke in a soft tone. "I'm glad, Haru-chan. You're finally moving on." Haruka ignored that comment, leaning up against the wall, waiting for Nagisa to continue on. "Me and Rei-chan...it was rough at first, but, we went all the way."

"All the way...?"

"Y-Yeah...I...I'm sort of embarrassed of it."

Haruka tried to think of something to say that wouldn't be awkward, but the conversation was already so much so, he figured he might as well say nothing. "If that was all, I'm hanging up."

"Well, I _did _have something important to tell you," the blonde chimed, perking up again, "but I guess since you're so eager to sleep, I'll let you go!"

"Bye." Haruka hung up and dropped his phone on the floor next to his bed, laying back down and closing his eyes. So Nagisa had went all the way with Rei? 'Good for him,' Haru thought, bitterly, though he wasn't sure why, exactly. It didn't bother him that he and Makoto hadn't yet: it was something that would have to just come on its own, not be forced. That, and, Makoto hadn't particularly expressed his views on the matter, either: not that he was of age yet. Just a year and a half more, and he would be. It wasn't too long to wait, but at the rate their relationship was moving forward, maybe it would come sooner. Regardless, it would solely be on Makoto's terms, not Haruka's.

He fiddled with the beads of his whale bracelet, staring at his ceiling, which was currently infinite darkness. He yawned, sniffing as he wiped his nose with the side of his hand. He better get to sleep, or he might be late to school tomorrow: not that he cared, he was late every other day, anyway. Waking up at the right time was just another downside of living alone.

* * *

The teen groaned, arm moving up to shield the light coming in from the window from his sleepy, blue eyes. He had been woken up by some really obnoxious ringing noises in his dream. Disgruntled, he peeked over his arm to look at the clock. It was still an hour before homeroom started and he-_dammit all_, why wasn't the ringing stopping?

It took a good three minutes of the annoyed dolphin laying in bed, grumbling about being woken up so suddenly and early, until he realized it was his doorbell ringing. Forcing himself out of bed, feeling tired and sluggish, hardly having gotten much sleep the night before, he stumbled down the steps and opened the door, running a hand through his dark hair.

Makoto was standing there, a big, bright smile on his face, his large green eyes sparkling in the morning sunshine. "Haru-chan! It's time for school! Let's walk together!" It was too early in the morning for Haru to even talk to reply, so he just stepped aside, letting the boy in. "Haru! Why aren't you even dressed yet? It's time to go to school!"

He grunted, hoping the reply was enough. Makoto just looked hurt and confused, so he cleared his groggy throat in order to say, "It's early."

"No it's not! Come on! Go get your uniform on!"

Haruka didn't reply, instead turning his back to him and heading back upstairs to his bedroom, where he flopped face-first back into his bed. Makoto followed, an indignant look on his cute face. "Har_uuu_!"

"It's too much effort," he grumbled into his pillow, closing his eyes. He couldn't help it: he was a horrible morning person, especially when it came to going to school that day.

"You didn't act this way at my house!"

_'That's because there wasn't school_,' he thought, irritated. He knew Makoto was just trying to help, but this early in the morning, everything pissed him the hell off, and it was getting hard to refrain from shouting at his little boyfriend. It wasn't his fault, it was his own, actually, but he really didn't want to do anything about it.

The brunette looked in Haruka's dresser, finding the pieces to his uniform, and placing them on the bed. "There! Now I'll go downstairs and make breakfast!" And he marched right down the stairs to the kitchen.

He pulled his heavy body up and rubbed his eyes, yawning one more time before using all of his remaining energy to change into the uniform and fumble his way down the steps, his only motivation to stop Makoto from ruining his precious kitchen. "You get out of here," he said hoarsely, pushing the boy gently out of the way from the stove.

"I won't leave until Haru leaves with me! We'll walk to school together!"

"Your school is closer than mine."

"We'll stick together until the path splits! By the way, I got in trouble for my dirty sheets."

This boy sure was determined this morning. Fine, he had gone through so much trouble already, the most Haru could do would be to just do what he'd like.

All he made for himself was toast, but he wasn't that hungry, anyway, belly still full from all the wonderful food he had eaten at the Tachibana residence. He was a bit peeved he couldn't bathe this morning, but his current priority was making sure Makoto himself got to school on time: he'd feel guilty if he didn't, because of his own resistance. Makoto seemed like a good student who always did his homework and never missed class, even when he was sick, and one who would be quite upset if he came to school late, and the last thing the teen wanted was to be the cause of his upset.

They walked to school together, holding hands until the path did, indeed, split, and Makoto waved goodbye, shouting, "Have a nice day!" and running to his school, backpack bouncing as he did. Haruka stood there and watched him until he disappeared over the hill, and continued to walk to Iwatobi High School.

To be honest, he wanted to detour to the beach, but he knew that if he did, all of Mako-chan's hard work that morning would have gone to waste, and he wasn't about to just let that happen. So he fought his urges and settled for simply staring at the ocean as he walked.

* * *

"Welcome back, everybody!" Amakata-sensei cried happily in her almost obnoxious drawl that Haruka tended to tune out most of the time. He stared out the window, glad to be sitting on the end of the room close to it, watching some birds fly by.

How could he get Makoto to feel more comfortable about water? Was it even his place to change his feelings about something like that? All children had their fears, but his seemed quite irrational. There must have been something else, something more than just the goldfish that happened. But what?

He looked away from the window and back down to his notebook, where he started doodling Makoto's smiling face in the margin, then moving his pencil down as he drew him in a cute pair of overalls.

But he was back to the start: even if he did find out what had happened to Makoto, did he have any right to confront him about it? In this relationship, Haruka had to be the role model for his younger boyfriend. Still, he wasn't sure if that was exactly role he wanted to have. However, Makoto had only been 'with' him for a few weeks, but had already taught him a lot about himself, and others. Was he really the role model? Or was Makoto?

He sighed. This was too much to bother with.

"...Matsuoka Rin."

Haruka's eyes widened, pencil dropping, looking to the front of the classroom, where he was met with intense, bright red eyes, looking right at him, sinking into his every pore like a shark would sink its teeth into its prey.

Amakata-sensei smiled. "Although it's the middle of the year, please welcome Matsuoka-kun warmly!"

With horror, Haru realized that the only empty seat in the classroom was next to him. He felt his mouth going very dry, hands falling and tightening on his lap as he watched the redhead take the seat, lounging in it like he was already comfortable, the same stupid grin on his face that had been six years ago.

He hadn't changed at all.


	6. New Student

It was awkward. No, _beyond_ awkward-you could cut the tension with a knife. Haruka just tried to avoid his gaze at all costs, but he felt as if Rin could hear his heart beating out of his chest, and when it came time for the next class, he kicked his leg a little from across the aisle to get his attention. "Oi. Haru."

Haru looked at him, holding one cheek in his hand, trying to keep his expression neutral.

"Thought you'd look more...ehh, _different_," Rin laughed, making sure to show all of his teeth in a full grin. Haru wondered if it was some kind of intimidation technique (because it was working-his naturally sharp teeth have gotten much sharper and pointier in the years passed). He didn't reply, just staring blankly at Rin's knee, feeling too uncomfortable to meet his eyes again. "You know..._fit_?"

He had nothing to say to that: there was no reason for him to be as muscular as Rin was, he just wanted to swim, not work out or exercise.

"S'okay. I don't mind you being all skinny and weak. Sorta suits you, Haru." He leaned forward, trying to get a better look at his notebook and doodles, but he tried to cover it up with his arm before he could see.

Haru took a deep breath and let it out, looking out the window, turning slightly in his desk so his back was more towards Rin as the next class started. The one thing he did want to know was why Rin was back in Japan. But he wasn't going to ask, because that would show interest, and honestly, he didn't really have any interest in Rin or pursuing a relationship with him anymore. He couldn't believe this is what he had put up with all the time, so willingly. It didn't necessarily hurt his feelings as much as it annoyed him. Makoto would _never_ talk to him in that way and somehow Haru didn't feel like justifying Rin's words or actions any longer.

* * *

Makoto spent the entire day thinking about how happy he had felt walking to school with Haru. It had made his heart flutter, and really, just doing anything with the teenager made him ecstatic, and although there was a new transfer student that entered his class, he was more eager to spend more time with Haru than hang around after school to talk to him. He literally ran from his elementary school up the large hill to the high school. His face lit up when he saw his dolphin walking right near the entrance of the school, but immediately fell when he saw he was...not alone?

It was the redhead that was in the photo Haru had ripped: his _'ex'. _Though, he was hardly recognizable, as the huge smile that had been seen in the photo had now been turned into a very tense, mean-looking expression that seemed to be permanent, and he was much..._larger _than Makoto remembered from the picture. He was..._scary._

He shuffled back shyly, instantly feeling quite nervous, and upset. He didn't want them to see him, at least not yet, before he knew what was going on.

"Who were you drawing? Why won't you tell me?"

"It's nothing."

"What the hell, Haru?! I thought you'd be_ happy _to see me!"

Haruka just stared at the cement: he seemed dormant and aloof, but Makoto could tell his thoughts were racing at a thousand miles per minute just by the look in his trembling eyes. Couldn't that redhead see, all Haru wanted was to be left alone in this moment? It felt like Haru was screaming it out, though there were no words coming from his mouth, Makoto could just_ hear _it in his head, 'leave me alone', 'stop'...

"There's someone else? You're _dating someone else_?!" It wasn't long before he snatched his wrist, the one with the whale bracelet on it, and held it up, shaking it at Haru's own face. "And what is _this_?!"

He wouldn't answer.

"_LOOK _at me!" The redhead slammed him into the nearby fence and that was when Makoto had to step in, no matter if he was just half the size of Haru's ex, and about a third of his muscle mass.

"Leave him alone!"

Rin turned around, and was about to burst out laughing, but stopped when he realized the boy was extremely similar to the one Haru was drawing earlier that day. As if he knew, his eyes moved down from his worried face to his little wrist, where he saw a similar bracelet to Haruka's, and that set him off completely. He let go of Haruka, but punched the fence, splitting the wire around his powerful fist, sharkteeth revealed in a deep scowl. It missed Haru's head by only a few centimeters.

"H-Haru-chan...cares a lot about you! So...so don't treat him that way!"

"What the hell do you know, _otouto-chan_?" He shook his now aching fist (though he'd never admit that it hurt), stepping away from Haruka, letting him regain his balance. "Who even-"

Haruka slapped him.

The redhead took a step back, hand raising to his swelling cheek, obviously shocked.

Makoto took a step closer, feeling more confident now. "I'm_ Haruka's boyfriend_! And if you don't leave him alone, I'll get you in real trouble!"

"B-Boyfriend, huh?"

He narrowed his usually happy green eyes. "Yes," he said, very seriously.

It took him awhile to respond, but he did with an obnoxious smirk and a turn of his head, nose pointing to the air proudly, eyes narrowing as he looked down at the trembling boy, who honestly looked quite pitiful given the circumstances. "Sorry, otouto-chan. I think you're mistaken. _I'm _Haru's boyfriend: the only one he has ever had, and the only one he ever will have."

"That's not for you to decide, Rin."

"Ha-Haru?!" His brow furrowed, and he clutched on to both of Haru's hands, looking at him with the same sort of expression that always got Haru to give in to him when they were younger. "Y-You mean...you don't want me as your boyfriend? You can't be serious. Haru. You'd pick _him_ over _me_?"

He shook his hands off his wrists and pushed him away by the chest. "It's not about picking sides. I've changed."

"I-I've changed, too! Don't you see?_ Look _at me!" Rin threw his hands out to the sides, "this is all for_ you_! How can _this _compare to a middle-schooler's body?!"

"That sort of thing has never interested me." Finally, Haruka decided enough was enough. He walked away, nonchalantly, finished with the conversation and Rin. Makoto quickly followed after him, and Rin just watched the two disappear off into the horizon. He clutched his fists and scowled, closing his eyes and cursing at himself mentally for a good minute or two, before stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking in the opposite direction.

Why was Haru acting so cold, and who the hell was that boy? What made him so special? And did he seriously consider him his boyfriend? Knowing Haru, it was just a facade, it _had_ to be...

Rin growled. What if it wasn't? He could feel the anger stirring in his stomach, and he wished more than anything he could just get something in it. At least that would distract him from this stupid-ass feeling and make him feel a little more at-home, though it _really _pissed him off that he wouldn't have Haruka on his hip.

"Rin-chan!"

He turned, surprised to hear himself addressed to casually, only to see that it was the _most annoying person _on the planet, Nagisa Hazuki, with some stupid little kid who looked to be Gou's age. _Great_.

The blonde ran towards him, dragging the boy along with him, a huge smile on his bright face. "Rin-chan! It's so nice to see you! Have you seen Haru-chan yet?"

"Yes."

"Oh! This is Rei-chan! He...eh?" Nagisa frowned, because when he looked down to introduce Rei, he was instead hiding behind his leg, clinging to his pants. "Don't be shy, Rei-chan!"

"Na-Nagisa-chan..." the boy whimpered, obviously quite intimidated by the muscular teenager, especially when he had such frightening teeth.

Nagisa looked back up at Rin. "Did you meet Mako-chan, too?"

"'Mako-chan'?"

"Ah...yeah, Haru's friend!"

"Oh. Him."

"Eh? So you did meet him!" Nagisa clapped, smiling, "that's great!"

"What's his story?" Rin didn't like talking to Nagisa much, he had annoyed him since they were little, but that didn't really change the fact that they _were_ sort of friends.

The bubbly teen's demeanor fell, and he put his hands in his pockets nervously. He hadn't really thought about the consequences until now-after all, Rin apparently still thought he and Haru were 'together', despite all the time they had spent apart. So he was between a rock and a hard place, and didn't know what to say, so he just shrugged.

Rin clicked his tongue and moved passed him without waving goodbye.

* * *

"_Haru_!" Makoto cried, trying to keep up with him, but he only walked faster. When Makoto didn't seem to get the point, he turned around and tried his best to be aware of his facial expression so it wasn't too cold.

"I want to be alone."

Makoto froze, falling back, watching as Haruka turned his back to him and jogged up the staircase that lead to his home.

* * *

Rin pressed his nose firmly against Haruka's, staring right into his eyes fiercely, then closing them, tilting his head to the side just so, kissing his lips with rough and demanding passion. Haruka protested quietly, bringing his hands to clutch on to Rin's wrists, which were clinging tight on to Haru's shoulders, not letting him escape his oral assault. He felt his tongue get sucked into Rin's mouth, and nibbled on gently by his sharp teeth, sending little, quick shivers down his spine.

"You can't deny this feels good," Rin whispered into his mouth, looking at Haru's blushing face with lidded eyes, before shutting them once more and returning to kissing him like no tomorrow.

Haruka _couldn't _deny that it felt good: it was different than with Makoto, as he had always reminded himself, but he swore it never felt this good to be dominated. Maybe he had convinced himself otherwise, just to feel better. If only Makoto was a bit bigger, a bit older, there would be no problem...he could be submissive and dominant, and much better than Rin at everything. Then he wouldn't have mixed feelings like this at all.

But Makoto was so much more than sex, that's what Haruka just had to keep reminding himself, because a relationship, _love_, is _more_ than sex, in fact, it's hardly about sex _at all_. Haru had only been with Makoto for a few weeks, but he felt like he had grown so much as a person, and in turn, perhaps helped Makoto grow, too, and that thought made goosebumps rise on his skin.

The redhead pulled away, admiring the shiver Haru gave, under the impression that it was because of his new, godlike body and kissing skills. "Let's move to the bedroom."

Haruka followed him upstairs, feeling slightly annoyed at the way Rin dictated what they would do. He liked it better when he made the plans, like when Makoto would come to get babysat, and he had activities for them to do all day. He enjoyed coming up with stuff like that. This was just obnoxious, though. He shouldn't have let Rin in when he had come to his door, begging to join him inside. But it was almost like he did it because he knew deep down, he sort of wanted it.

Rin looked around his room a little, before grabbing a box that was sitting on Haruka's desk, and opening it before he could protest. "What is _this_," he snorted, taking it out of the box.

Haruka looked away defiantly.

Rin shook the vibrator in front of his face. "Do you use this on yourself, and think of me?"

No. He had bought that for Makoto..._specifically_ for Makoto. Haru chose not to answer.

"I'd like to use it on you, Haru. See you get all hot and bothered, and squirm, and call my name like you used to. _'Riiiinnn_'," he mocked, in a high-pitched, obnoxious voice that was supposed to be an impression of Haru, but sounded nothing like him at all, and really more like his little sister, Gou. He tossed it aside and sat on the bed. "Well, get on with it, Haru. Give me a lapdance or something."

"I want to stay steady with Makoto. I won't do anything with you, Rin."

Rin clicked his tongue, crossing his legs. "Just who the hell is that brat? Where did he come from?"

"He goes to Iwatobi Swim Club."

"You still go to that old place?"

"Nagisa and I lifeguard there."

The scowl faded and turned into a huge sharktooth grin. "Lifeguard? You're a _lifeguard_ now, Haru?"

Haru put the vibrator back in the box and on its original place on his desk, noting to himself that he'd have to wash it, now that Rin had clammed it up with his fingers. He wouldn't let that sort of thing enter Makoto.

"Are you a totally different person now, or what?"

Before Haru could reply, the doorbell rang. Sighing, and hoping to God it wasn't Nagisa, Haruka ran down the stairs and opened the door, feeling his throat tighten when he saw who it was.

"P-Please come and play with me!" The expression on the little whale's face was literally heartbreaking.

"I can't, Makoto. I'm sorry." He felt really horrible for saying it, but in his current state, he was mostly just worried about sorting things out with Rin.

Makoto's heart fell, brows furrowing close together, fists balling at his side.

"Who is it?" He heard a voice call from the background, and soon, Rin came up to the door, looking over Haru's shoulder.

That was it, he couldn't hold his tears back any longer, so he ran without another word, ran as fast as he could down the stairs and passed his house, just running, and running, until his breath had run out and he had to stop, falling on to the sand of the shore, blinking back tears as he looked at the ocean. He sobbed, grabbing a seashell and chucking it as hard as he could at the water. It helped a little, so quickly, he stood up and threw another, and another, until he was so tired there was nothing he could do but fall on his back and rest his wet eyes.

"_Oi!_ Haru! W-Where are you going?!"

"I'm going after him," Haruka mumbled. Rin ran to the door, watching him jog down the steps.

Why did that boy have to interrupt their time together after so long? Moreover, why did Haru care so much about him? Rin scowled. "I can play this game, Haru," he grumbled to himself, clenching his fists, "just you see."

* * *

"So, how was your first day of school, Rei-chan?" Nagisa smiled, leaning forward, feeling quite interested to hear about it. Rei had been sort of quiet today.

They were sitting in Nagisa's bedroom, on his big, fluffy bed. Rei really enjoyed being there, because unlike his room, which was bland and decorated solely by his parents, Nagisa's room was very bright and colorful and almost felt like a playground. He also let him touch everything, and play with whatever he found, which made him happy (it wasn't like at Haruka's where there are all those rules!).

"I didn't like it," he frowned, pushing his glasses up his nose as they slid down a bit.

"Awww! Why not?"

"Because Nagisa-chan isn't there..."

Nagisa squealed, pulling him close to his chest in a tight hug, cooing over how adorable he was. "_Cuuutteeee_, Rei-chan! You're so cute!"

Rei wasn't going to deny that he loved the attention Nagisa provided him with.

The teenager got close to his ear and whispered, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up, "You're so cute that you're getting me all excited," he grabbed Rei's hand in his own and pressed it against his hardening crotch, "see, Rei-chan? See how_ excited _Nagisa-chan already is for you?"

The boy whined, cheeks going completely red. It drove him absolutely insane when Nagisa talked to him like that, and combined with all the attention he was giving him, Rei was starting to get excited, too. But he always tried his best not to let Nagisa see it. "N-Nagisa-chan..." he protested, gently trying to push him away.

Nagisa wouldn't let him escape: besides, Rei already knew that once he got started, there was no stopping it. He grabbed a hold of his hand again and placed it back on his crotch, moving Rei's hand back and forth on it, moaning softly while looking down at him. "Look at what Rei-chan is doing to me..."

Rei looked down, blushing harder yet. The lump in his shorts was indeed getting pretty big.

He stared at him with lidded eyes, running his free hand through his hair, pushing his bangs off his face, giving a hot sigh. Rei trembled at the sight, finding the teenager so beautiful whenever he was like this. To see him in pleasure gave Rei pleasure...and that pleasure was starting to get uncomfortable. Pulling away his small hand, he asked shyly, "Can I get undressed?"

"Let me do it."

Rei stood up in front of Nagisa, who sat crosslegged, trying to mind his erection as he reached up and unbuttoned Rei's shirt, slipping it off his lithe body and quickly moving to his little pants, repeating under his breath, "Yes, let Nagisa-chan undress you". After throwing his belt and pants to the side, he left Rei in his briefs, finding them too cute to take off just yet. He motioned him to sit down, and he did, but there was a frown on his little, defiant face now. "Nagisa-chan has to take off his clothes, too!"

His eyes narrowed, smile turning into more of a smirk, and he got off the bed, standing up and the way he watched Rei from all the way up there, with those lidded eyes drove Rei insane and made him squirm around and palm his erection through his briefs, wanting nothing more than to take it out and finish, though he knew that was against the rules that they had in place.

Completely teasing him, Nagisa let his hands trail down his own body, from his shoulders, to his torso, from his stomach to his thighs, and back up again, watching his little boyfriend writhe in pleasure at the sight. "Oh, Rei-chan...what should I take off first?"

"S-Shorts!" he squeaked.

Nagisa chuckled, darker than his usual laugh, as it always was when he was horny like this. As expected, it went straight to Rei's cock. "Then, they will be last." He made a point of taking off his shirt, and then his undershirt, and then his socks, until he was finally in just his shorts. The ten-year-old was practically drooling at the looks of his lifeguard's body. Wanting to make Rei hold out as much as he could, he teasingly rolled his hips around in a circle, thumbs linking into the edge of his shorts, pulling them down just slightly, but then pulling them back up again.

Rei sobbed, crawling closer so he was between his legs, face in his crotch. "P-Please!" he begged, wanting nothing more than to just see it. The big bulge in the shorts wasn't nearly enough. The teenager closed his eyes and held Rei's head, gently thrusting his clothed crotch against Rei's face, knocking his glasses askew, enjoying the soft, muffled little moans he got in response.

"Ask more nicely, theeeennnn..._maybe_. Come on. Ask Nagisa-chan for what you want."

"Na-Nagisa-chaaannn," he droned, nuzzling his face into his crotch, "please, please, _please_, let Rei-chan see your beautiful area."

He chuckled quietly before pulling away and finally slipping out of his shorts and boxers all at once, giving the boy just what he wanted. Rei groaned softly and let his hands latch on to the hard member in front of him, sliding them all the way from the base to the very tip, looking up at Nagisa as he reached over to his bedside dresser and grabbed a bottle of lotion, squirting some into his hand.

The lotion, already? This had started so slow, but now was going so fast...

Obediently, Rei pulled away and got on all fours with his bum facing the blonde, who didn't hesitate to start working his tight little asshole.

Rei moaned, arching his back as two of Nagisa's fingers thrust in and out of his body, letting his head fall down to rest on his arms. "Na-Nagisa-chan..."

"You look so ready for Nagisa-chan's cock, mmmm? Don't you? Ah, if only you could see it, Rei-chan...see how greedy your hole looks right now...it's eating my fingers right up. It wants me inside so badly, mm? Doesn't it?"

The boy nodded furiously, reaching between his legs and trying to rub himself a bit but Nagisa hit his hand away and then flipped him over on his back, leaning over the edge of the bed, pulling up Rei's legs and motioning for him to hold them open. Their lips met in a crashing kiss as he hovered over him, guiding his cock slowly into his entrance. It took a couple tries before it slipped in with a pop.

"R-Rei-chan...does it hurt?" Nagisa asked gently, after a minute of staying still, noticing the boy's cock had gone slightly limp, probably at the pain of entrance.

"It feels bigger than last time," he whined quietly, letting Nagisa take off his glasses and set them aside. The teen definitely enjoyed that comment (_what guy didn't like hearing that he was bigger?_), and it encouraged him to slowly thrust forward into Rei's tight heat, and he closed his eyes, letting out a low moan that made Rei's cock stand at attention once more.

By this time, it never took long for either of them. The sex was fast, yes, but _great_. Nagisa had amazing stamina and Rei wouldn't mind if they went for a couple rounds every day. At least, this is what he told Nagisa sometimes, who just responded with a laugh, telling him that he wasn't _that _energetic.

He pounded in and out and in and out, thrusting in fully, and pulling out completely, until he felt cool air hit his tip, and then he would push back inside to the hilt, moaning in unison with Rei, who absolutely adored the feeling of his gaping asshole each time.

Nagisa soon let out a cry louder than his previous moans, signaling he was done, thrusting once more into the tight crevice before falling limp on to Rei's body, catching his breath before slowly pulling himself out. Getting on the bed and sitting back on his calves, he ordered the boy to turn around, and when he did, spread his cheeks, enjoying the view of his small, clenching asshole, trying its best to keep all of his seed inside. "Push it out for me?"

"N-Nagisa-chan!" There were literally tears in Rei's eyes (it had been _so_ good this time), as he looked behind himself at the smiling blonde teen.

"Come on, Rei-chan! Just push and let me see it," he teased playfully, letting his index finger drag around his entrance slowly, and Rei choked out a sob.

"I-It wouldn't be beautiful...what if..."

Nagisa closed his eyes, smiling still as he moved his hand away and pressed his face into his small, pale ass, saying quietly against Rei's sensitive skin, "Everything Rei-chan does is beautiful."

Rei sighed, always feeling swayed by his words, doing as he had instructed, and pushed, gasping quietly as he felt the hot, sticky liquid roll out of his hole, and moaning when he felt Nagisa's even hotter tongue lap it all up. It wasn't too long before the teen pulled him back into his lap and kissed him, forcing the cum into his mouth in a gentle, yet firm way. "Rei-chan..." he whispered, watching him swallow all of it, coughing just a bit as he did. He just gave him a smile and kissed both of his cheeks, sitting up again. "Ah...I hope we weren't too loud! Oh well."

"B-But...I never got to finish..." Rei sniffed.

* * *

The waters were rough: it was getting dark, and cooler outside. Some boats were docking nearby, probably because it was getting too bad to continue their journey. Makoto didn't like looking at the sea like this, especially at night. It freaked him out, yet, he didn't want to move from that spot, feeling somehow that if he stayed in that spot and stared at the one thing he feared most, Rin would go away.

He let his head fall between his knees. That didn't even make sense. That wouldn't ever happen. The truth was that Haru was in love with Rin, and why the hell would he pick a stupid kid like Makoto over someone who obviously cared a lot about him, was his own age, was probably a great swimmer, and was all muscular and tall?

More tears fell into the sand below him.

"Is this how it's supposed to be..." he whispered quietly to himself hoarsely, "...for me to just be alone again? With no friends? W-with...people who make fun of me?" He lost it at that, and sobbed loudly, letting the tears pour out of his very tired eyes.

The boy cried for awhile more, until it felt like no more tears could come out, and instead, all he felt was anger like never before. He sat up, looking at the dolphin bracelet on his wrist. Contemplating throwing it in the ocean, he pulled it off and let it dangle in the breeze, glaring at it. What did this even mean? Did it mean _anything_? He raised his arm, winding it up to throw.

"Makoto."

Makoto looking over his shoulder, seeing Haru standing there, brows slightly furrowed. His eyes moved from Mako's face, to the bracelet in his hand. He closed his eyes and his face softened, almost like he was relieved. He took a seat next to Makoto, who just let his arm fall back down to his side.

They just looked at the ocean, watching the sunset. The water got rougher, getting a bit closer each time the shore rode up. It made Makoto tense and feel uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to move from that spot. So he was going to distract himself. "Tell me."

"We got together when I was about your age. He made me angry at first, but the fact was that he made me feel something for the first time in my life."

Makoto just wanted to cry again, hearing Haruka talk about Rin so passionately, but he held back, wanting to give him a fair chance to explain before he reacted.

"We agreed to be boyfriends, but at the time, I didn't really take it too seriously. He would make me feel bad about a lot of things, and make fun of me a lot, but I didn't really care. Those sort of things don't bother me. What I cared about was how I felt...when we swam together."

He held his face in his hands, not wanting to hear much more of the story. The farther it went on, the crappier he felt about himself. He told himself, over and over, that he wasn't getting Haruka back, trying to get himself to toughen up and get used to the idea, but it only made him cry more, silently.

"But in the end, he chose a swimming school in Australia over me. He started out calling me once in awhile, but eventually, he just stopped all contact." Haruka looked over at Makoto, and then felt a pang of guilt hit him: seeing him like this made him sadder than he had ever felt about Rin. Pulling him close by the shoulder, he held him in his arms against his side, closing his eyes. "I never felt the spark in my body as I do when you're around me, though, Makoto."

Makoto let out an ugly sob, but Haru couldn't have found it more precious. He held him closer, feeling sadness more than he had in a long time, like tears could actually form in his eyes: how many years had it been since he had cried? "I'm sorry that..." he paused, trying really hard to come up with the right words, "...I'm such a bad boyfriend, Makoto."

"Y-You're _not_, Haruka!" he stammered, "you're...you're a really good boyfriend...I promise." He nuzzled into Haru's warm body, wiping his eyes then hugging him tight. "I want to be with Haru forever...even if I just can be in his arms, like this, _forever_, I want to feel this way..." The boy sniffed, before leaning up and kissing Haru's lips sloppily, looking up at him with big, teary, green eyes. There was a smile on his face that made all of Haru's nerves relax. "I want to be one with Haru-chan...so please, accept my feelings."

Haruka closed his eyes and took a long, shaky breath before leaning down and kissing Makoto again, sliding his hands down from his shoulders to his hips, rubbing small circles gently in the spot that made Makoto squirm into his lap obediently, making sure his tongue touched every centimeter of Makoto's wet mouth. He didn't care if anyone saw this, in fact, he hoped they would: for what they would see was nothing but an act of pure love and devotion.

* * *

Haruka took his hand, pulling him up and walking him back to his house. "You're all dirty from the sand, so let's take a bath," he said, after they got back and he switched on the lights. Rin must have left by now, because they were all turned off. Makoto smiled and ran to the shower room, before Haru placed a hand on his back. "Let's just go straight to the bath."

The boy laughed. "Haru always wants to go straight to the bath!"

"It's the best part."

"I can't argue with that!" He stripped, and ran to the bathtub, turning on the water. Haruka slowly pulled off his clothes, thinking about every thing that had happened that day. His mind was completely overwhelmed, and he almost wanted to break down, but he knew he had to stay strong in front of Makoto. There would be time to figure things out with Rin later: he had to be his current priority. He stepped into the bath, sinking down deep into the hot water, letting out a sigh of relief. It seemed to suck away all the tension and anxiety from his entire being. That is, until Makoto hopped into the bath, splashing water every where. Haru opened his eyes and pulled him close, smiling a little. He needed someone like Makoto to ruffle his feathers a bit. He kept him on his toes. He liked that about him.

Haru poured some soap into the water and then on his hands, making the tub all bubbly as he started to wash Makoto's front side.

"Haru-chan..." Makoto whimpered, after awhile.

"Mm?"

"I'm just worried that Haru-chan likes Rin more. I know it's selfish but...I want Haru to only like me."

"It's hard for me...to explain my feelings," Haruka said quietly, letting his hands rub all over Makoto's small, soapy body, a shiver of pleasure rolling up his body as their knees accidentally touched. "But I want you to know that I want to be with you, Makoto..."

Makoto smiled, leaning in to kiss him, but Haruka pulled away a little so he could continue on, "It's not just because I'm attracted to you, or because the situation is convenient. I don't know what exactly this feeling is yet, but...I want to be able to tell you when I know. I hope you can wait until then."

He nodded, eagerly leaning closer, wanting nothing more than to kiss his dolphin. Haruka held his chin in place as he leaned down and kissed him gently.

* * *

Makoto wanted to swim: it had been awhile, and it always cleared his mind, and lately he_ really _needed his mind to be cleared. Plus, seeing Haruka swim always made him happy. He ran to the club after school, not having felt this excited since the trip to the onsen theme park. He even did just as Haru had previously instructed, wearing his swimsuit underneath his clothes so that they could sneak out for a minute and Haru could undo them sensually like Makoto had always daydreamed about him doing.

"Haru-chan!" He ran over to the lifeguard's station, grinning until he saw who was in the chair, face falling. It was the red haired ex-boyfriend, Rin. There was a boy clinging to his hand, though Rin didn't seem to care one bit. His face was cold, and focused on the pool in front of him.

"W-wha..." Makoto whimpered, glancing at the grey haired boy that he suddenly realized was Nitori Aiichiro, the new transfer student in his class. He was so confused. Where was Haruka? He looked up at Rin, but the teen wouldn't even acknowledge him. Instead, he just gave Nitori's hand a little squeeze. Makoto redirected his eyes back to him, brows furrowed in complete confusion.

"Tachibana Makoto," the boy said firmly, almost glaring at Makoto with the passion present in his eyes, "Rin-sama says you can't come to this pool anymore!"


End file.
